A, .^,.-^ 






Pioneer Sketches: 

SCENES AND INCIDENTS 

OF 

FORMER DAYS. 



THRILLING SCENES AND INCIDENTS, FIERCE ENCOUNTERS 

WITH INDIANS AND WILD BEASTS, EARLY PRIVATIONS 

OF THE AMERICAN PIONEERS, BIOGRAPHICAL 

SKETCHES OF MANY EARLY SETTLERS. 



BY M. P. sa.rge;nt. 



Illustrated by Goddard, under the personal supervision of the Author 
from real life. 



ERIE, PA.: 
Herald Printing and Publishing Company, Limited. 
i8qi. 



^i67 




3.' 



COPYRJGHT 1S9I. BY M. P. Sa»GEST. 

AsHTABru\, Ohio. 




M. P. SARGENT. 



pp^kf^ce:. 



The object of this work is to give the reader life sketches 
of some of the early settlers of our country, scenes and inci- 
dents of former days, current topics, sparks of humor, gems of 
thought, etc., in which I have endeavored to give correct 
statements and dates from reliable sources, that the reader can 
refer to reminiscences of the past, we hope, with some degree 
of pleasure, knowing there is a VAST FIELD for the his- 
torian to chronicle events and incidents of the heroic i^ioneers 
of our great beneficent land of America. 

AVhile the Heroes of the Dark Continent and the Mission- 
ary of India and other heathen lands enter into the work with 
unbounded zeal, to delineate to a finality the condition of 
the heathen race; "very well," but in the interim, let us 
not be unmindful of our own kin and kindred. We find 
there are many families in our land who cannot give a correct 
family history for two or three past generations, thus causing 
much annoyance and litigation, pertaining to estates, etc., and 
a living vacuum of a knowledge of the family pedigree. 

"Then let us hope others may write a l>ook 
As well as some who have undertook 
In days of yore, that have gone by 
Along down the ages to you and 1. 



'Tis not necessary to pick out the man of great renown ; 
From the rank and file many heroes have been found 
"Whose names doth not appear on historic scroll ; 
Yet patriotic heroes in mind, in body and in soul." 

People nowadays desire to coudense matters, therefore I 
have thought it best not to torture the reader with h)ug-spun 
articles, nor with borrowed clippings, other tlian naturally be- 
long to incidents and history, of which proper credit is given. 
"What I offer is my own," With these remarks I present 
this volume to the public, asking no favor, but hoping that it 
may' be of interest to the reader. 

Respectfully, 
Ashtabula, June 15, 1891. AUTHOR. 



CHAPTER I-The Pioneer , 13 

CHAPTER II— The Vessel of the Pymatuaiug— Old Forts 15 

CHAPTER III— Great Mex— Columbus, Washington, Lincoln, 

Grant— From Poverty to the Pinnacle of Fame 17 

CHAPTER IV-Life and Accident Insurance 23 

CHAPTER V— Meadville— Meadville and Crawford County, Pa.. 25 

CHAPTER VI— Former Days Sketches of Early History of Craw- 
ford County and Meadville — Major George Washington —Thrown 
from a Raft by Ice — Stone War Club — Arrow Heads — Indian 
Remains — Stockade Forts — Wild Game — Millions of Pigeons — 
Death of James Finley and B. McCormick -General Wayne's 
Treaty — Old Houses and Residences 27 

CHAPTER Vi:— Cornelius Vax Horn— An Exploring Party- 
Captured by Indians— Tied to a Tree — Escape — Retaken Prisoner 
— Liquor Exchanged for Him — More Indian Troubles 36 

CHAPTER VIII— Early Settlers -Arrival of William Dick in 
Meadville— The First Saw Mill— The First Grist Mill— General 
Mead's Stockade House — The Early Bai- — Privations of Early 
Settlers — William Dick's Encounter with an Indian — Half 
Town's Fat Turkey..... 41 

CHAPTER IX — Ax Indiak Joke — Colonel Joseph Hackney — 

Trade with the Indians — The Beaver Skin 47 

CHAPTER X— A Duel— Holland Land Company— William Gill- 
Jennie Finney— Navigation of French Creek— Singular Sui- 
cide — Melancholy Disaster 49 

CHAPTER XI— The Ancient Military of Crawford County— Train- 
ing Day — Uniforms — The Band — Description of Various Com- 
panies — The Meadville Stock Raising Dragoons — Meadville 
Artillery 54 

CHATPER XII— Alfred Sargent— Birth— Removal to Pennsyl- 
vania Marriage — Clearing Lands —Manufacturing Black Salts 
—The Rapacious Wolf-Tlie Salt Well— First Vote 65 



CHAPTER XIII— Ekie City — Presque Isle Bay — Trophies of 
Perry's Victory- Seth Reed— Jndah Colt-The Small-Pox Pass 
—The Erie & Pittsburg Canal— Early Settlers 72 

CHAPTER XIV— Erie^City- Its Early History — Subsequent 
Progress— Pre-Historic Remains— Curious Mounds — Chorean 
Peads — The French and Indian Struggle — Old Log Houses and 
Forts — Ruins — Evacuation of Presque Isle— The Poutiac Con- 
spiracy—The Triangle — Gen. Anthony Wayne- Construction of 
Perry's Fleet— Scraps of History 78 

CHAPTER XV— Alfred King 95 

CHAPTER XVI— Pioneer Soldiery— The Pioneer Soldiery of 
Crawford County — Lieutenant, Cajitain, Major — General Train- 
ing, Etc — The Old Block House— Beaver Rangers 97 

CHAPTER XVII— The Country School House— Healthy Sports 

— Cracking the Whip— Spelling Schools — Exhibitions 101 

CHAPTER XVIII- Ripe Age 107 

CHAPTER XIX— The Wild Hog Chase 108 

CHAPTER XX— Logging— Burning Fallow HI 

CHAPTER XXI— Obed Wells — Characteristics— Farm Products 
—The Pittsburg Market— The Milking Scene— The Dutchman 
and the Bull-Frog— Pulling Turnips 113 

CHAPTER XXII— The Bounding Hart 122 

CHAPTER XXIII- Daniel Sturtevant- Buying Cattle— Drov- 
ing Cattle— Farming 123 

CHAPTER XXIV— Eri Thomas— Characteristics— Selling a Pair 

of Boots : 127 

CHAPTER XXV— Early Settlers — Flemming — Jackson H. 

McKee's Encounter Avith the Wolf 130 

CHAPTER XXVI— M. P. Sargent— Birth -Ancestry— Boyhood — 
The Old Block House on the Hill — Pnncheon Floors— The 
Wood Bee— The Old Fire Place -The Kids on the Hill— The 
Nimrods — Picnic — Chet and Charlie — Uncle Charlie's Fleet 
Ride — A Narrow Escape 134 

CHAPTER XXVlI-OuR First Fiddle— How Got-A Nevada 

Silver Mine— My Good Mother— Weaving 145 

CHAPTER XXVIII— CooNiNG— Line of Tactics— Coon, Oppossum, 

Porcupine — The Nimrods— Cuff and Ponto — A Painful Accident 147 

CHAPTER XXIX— Sugar IMaking- Tapping Trees- Gathering 

Pap^The Rescue — The Festival — Our Cabin— Snaaring Off 153 



CHAPTER XXX— Our First Trip on the Raging Canal— 
The Summit — The Feeder — Hartstown Pond — Hundreds of 
Snakes — Tribes of Indians —Their Departure for the Southwest 
— The Polk and Dallas — Towed by a Steamboat — Rounding 
Beaver Point — A Narrow Escape 158 

CHAPTER XXXI— Captain of a Canal Boat, with Papers in My 
Hat— A Cheese Deal 167 

CHAPTER XXXII— An Early Visitor — A Terrific Yell — A 

Magical Eftect 170 

CHAPTER XXXIII— In Love and Out 175 

CHAPTER XXXIV— The Home of Our Youth 176 

CHAPTER XXXV— The Hog— His Exploit in a Well— The Rescue 178 

CHAPTER XXXVI- A Trip to Meadville:for a Pound of Tea 181 

CHAPTER XXXVII -Thirty-two Pounds of Butter for a Pound of 

Tea 183 

CHAPTER XXXVIII— Manutacturiug Black Salts— Salt Wells 185 

CHAPTER XXXIX— Sparks of Humor 188 

CHAPTER XL— A Trip on Lake Erie— Ohio City -Akron —Re- 
turn to School 189 

CHAPTER XLI— The Sunny South— Down the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi — Teachers' Institute — Bolton and Dickens, Slave 
Dealers — Scenes — Death of Brown — The Barbecue 193 

CHAPTER XLII— The New Year 205 

CHAPTER XLIII — Our Forest Home — Marriage — Organizing a 

School District — Phrenological Lecture— Wholesale Blessing 206 

CHAPTER XLIV — Lumbering— An Incident— Shipping Lumber 

to Erie, Buffalo, Troy and Albany 209 

CHAPTER XLV — Recruiting — Prospecting — Leasing Coal Lands — 
The Cox Farm, McFate— Drilling for Coal— My Return— Death 
of My Sister — Removal — Death of Our Son, Edwin — Prospect- 
ing Armstrong and Butler Counties — Lease and Purchase — Oil 
Business — Bear Creek Property — Sale of Timber Lands — Death 
of a Brotber-iu-Law — Grain and Flour Shipment — Drop in Oil 
Lands — Destruction of Property — Indians — Prisoners Released 
—Brady's Bend '. , 215 

CHAPTER XLVI— Mining and Shipping Coal— Towing Boats- 
Low Stage of Water on the Allegheny River— Pegg's Chute — 
Crapo House— A Rebel Landlord — A Loyal Connecticut IMan — 
Palmy Days of Oildom 221 



CHAPTER XLYII— Lu^iBER Yards— Meadville and Oil Creek- 
Leasing Oil Lands and Operating — Drilling 228 

CHAPTER XLVIII— The North Shore— Lake Superior— The Mercer 
Party— Lake Huron — Dancing — Sumner Overboard — A Ride 
Over the Falls 231 

CHAPTER XLIX— Return from Prince Arthur— Lumbering- 
Building — American Insurance Company of Chicago — Charles 
L. Currier's Letter— E. A. Butts, State Agent— The Prizes— The 
Field — The Bible and the Hunting Scene — General Insurance • 
Agent — Author Pioneer Sketches, Scenes and Incidents of For- 
mer Days ~37 

CHAPTER L-Gems of Thought 243 

CHAPTER LI— Sparks of Humor 244 

CHAPTER LII — Springboro— Old Chums— Shadeland— Stockmen 245 

CHAPTER LIII— Tragic Death of Orson Chapman 247 

CHAPTER LIV- Return of Spring 249 

CHAPTER LV— To the Agent 250 

CHAPTER LVI— Edmund Sargent— Characteristics 251 

CHAPTER LVII— Things that are Queer 254 

CHAPTER LYIII— J. F. Woodard 255 

CHAPTER LIX— E. H. and Byron Sargent 257 

CHAPTER LX-Sparks of Humor 260 

CHAPTER LXI — William S. Alderman — Raising the Log 
House — An Incident — An Ugly Elevation — Boating — Clearing 
up Lands — Settling on His Lands — Marriage 261 

CHAPTER LXII— The Clever Bears of Calveras Countv— Their 
Sagacity— The Pig Sty 265 

CHAPTER LXIII— Alfred Sargent — Hunting Geese Eggs— 
Yaughn's Pond — Westward Bound — Iowa — Colorado — Pike's 
Peak— Frozen Feet — Return to Iowa — Marriage — Farming 268 

CHAPTER LXIY— Ritner H. Sturtevant 272 

CHAPTER LXV- Sparks of Humor 274 

CHAPTER LXVI— John C. Sturtevant 275 

CHAPTER LXVII— Samuel F. Woodard 277 

CHAPTER LXYIII— Lucius F. McLaughlin 279 



CHAPTER LXIX— Mr. Frey Goes Out for His Breakfast 281 

CHAPTER LXX— Sparks of Humor 283 

CHAPTER LXXI-Trade in Former Days 284 

CHAPTER LXXII— Sparks of Humor 288 

CHAPTER LXXIII— John P. Locke 289 

CHAPTEK LXXIV— Gemsof Thought 291 

CHAPTER LXXV— Wild Bees- Chester Morley's Big Bonanza 292 

CHAPTER LXXVI— Finding a Bee Tree— Bill, the Ox-Teamster— 

When to Cut a Pig Yoke 295 

CHAPTER LXXVII-W. G. and S. J. Thomas 297 

CHAPTER LXXVIII— Gems of Thought 301 

CHAPTER LXXIX—Shadeland — Powell Brothers, the Cele- 
brated Stockmen 302 

CHAPTER LXXX— The Agent of To-Day 304 

CHAPTER LXXXI— A. C. QuiNBY— Making Hoops and Shingles 
— Canal Boating — Dealing in Nursery Stock — Livery and Sale 
Stable T 305 

CHAPTER LXXXIl -The Legal Trio 307 

CHAPTER LXXXIII— CoNNEAUT Lake— Location and Size- 
Crossing Over on the Ice — Awful Suspense 310 

CHAPTER LXXXIV— R. Cheeseman 314 

CHAPTER LXXXV-A. 0. Paul— The Gander— Agenl^Staging 

— Livery — Nursery Stock — Horse Dealer 315 

CHAPTER LXXXVI— A. C. Martindale 317 

CHAPTER LXXXVII— Lexington— Early Settlers 320 

CBAPTER LXXXVIII- Sanford Salisbury— Mechanical Gen- 
ius — H. E. Salisbury — A Natural Born Mechanic - Building 
Saw Mills— Inventing Machinery Death — Canal Boating — 
James P. Salisbury — The Revolving Wooden Horse-Rake — 
Removal to Kansas— Hot Times with the Border Ruffians — 
Farming 323 

CHAPTER LXXXIX— Lockport — Cranesville -Albion- Girard— 

Across Lake Erie in a Canoe — Treed by a Bear 328 

CHAPTER XC— A. Denio— Ostego Fork Mills— Miles Grove, Pa.. 336 

CHAPTER XCI— America 338 



CHAPTER XCII— The Father of Waters— Romance and Trag- 
edy of the Mighty Mississippi — Its Waters Cover the Keniaius 
of the First European Who Traversed Them — Ferdinand De 
Soto, Lasaile and Others 343 

CHAPTER XCIII— Cooped by a Lion 347 

CHAPTER XCIV— Loving Words 352 

CHAPTER XCV— Pittsburg 353 

CHAPTER XCVI— Butler 354 

CHAPTER XCVII— Colonel Drake, the Discoverer of Petroleum Oil 355 

CHAPTER XCVIII— Franklin 357 

CHAPTER XCIX— Oil City 359 

CHAPTER C— The Steele Farm 363 

CHAPTER CI— The Bennehoff Farji— Oil Production— The 
Robbery of Half a Million— The 3Iystery-The Arrest and 
Release '. 365 

CHAPTER CII— Titusville 370 

CHAPTER cm Conneaut— The Harbor— Early Settlers 372 

CHAPTER CIV— Pithole City— Wonderful Growth and Collapse 375 

CHAPTER CVI— Roads in Oildom 377 

CHAPTER C VII — Ashtabula. Ohio— Harbor— Early Settlers — 

Orowth— Reminiscenses 379 

CHAPTER CVIII— East Side— Improvements 387 

CHAPTER CIX— Early Settlers of Ashtabula— The First Baptism 

— "Put Her in Agaiu." 389 

CHAPTER CX— John Metcalf— Carrying i\[ail in Former Days— 

The Dance at Bunker Hill " "... .. 392 

CHAPTER CXI— The First Vessel Launched at Ashtabula— Sad 

Accident 395 

CHAPTER CXII— William Humphrey 397 

CHAPTER CXIII— L. W. Smith 399 

CHAPTER CXIV— The Fargo Brothei-s 401 

CHAPTER CXV— The Ashtabula Disaster 403 

CHAPTER CXVl— Granville Loomis 405 



CHAPTER CXVII— Painesville, Ohio 412 

CHAPTER CX VIII— Jefferson. Ohio.... 415 

CHAPTER CXIX— Geneva, Ohio 417 

CHAPTER CXX— Warren 419 

CHAPTER CXXI— The Indian 421 

CHAPTER CXXII— Joseph Bennett 423 

CHAPTER CXXIII— Indian Chiefs 424 

CHAPTER CXXIV— Cleveland 425 

CHAPTER CXXV— Youngstown 428 

CHAPTER CXX VI— Curtis Goddard— Birth— Boyhood— Manufac- 
turer- -Removal ro Ashtabula 431 

CHAPTER CXXVII— The Privations of Early Settlers 433 

CHAPTER CXXVIII— The Railroad Brakeman 435 

CHAPTER CXXiX-The Ashtabula Strike 436 

CHAPTER CXXX— Capital and Labor 440 

CHAPTER CXXXI -Do You Ever Think?— Life's Seven Stages... 442 

CHAPTER CXXXII— Early Sports and Pastimes -The Grape Vine 

Swing 443 

CHAPTER CXXXIII— The Blind Man Everett 445 

CHAPTER CXXXIV— An Interesting Corpse 447 

CHAPTER CXXXV— A Pioueer Mortgage 450 

CHAPTER CXXXVI— The Court House Removal 451 

CHAPTER CXXXVII— A Sad Incident— The Farmer— A Tavern 
Keeper — A Farm Consumed by Whisky — Removal — Downfall 
and Trial of a Young Girl — Release — License Taken from a 
Tavern Keeper 452 

CHAPTER CXXXVIII— Noted Life Swindler Caught 454 

CHAPTER CXXXIX— The Shenango Railroad 455 

CHAPTER CXL— The Round-Up 457 

CHAPTER CXLI— Fossil Mines of the West 459 

CHAPTER CXLII— Big Salaries and Insurance 466 



CHA.PTER CXLIII- -The Insurance Agent of the Future 468 

CHAPTER CXLIV — The Waterways — Their Importance and Com- 
mercial Value — Ship Canal Surveys 470 

CHAPTER CXLV— Lemuel Cook— Encounter ATith Indians— The 

Artist, Charles H. Goddard 477 

CHAPTER CXLVI— War Time Heroes -Pretty Mrs. Mason— Hovr 

She Made Herself Useful to the Confederate Government 479 

CHA.PTER CXLVII— Our Country— Its Possibilities 483 

CHAPTER CXLVIII— The Forces of Nature 486 

CHAPTER CXLIX— The American Conflict 487 

CHAPTER CL— Sparks of Humor 489 

CHAPTER CLI— The Outlook 492 

CHAPTER CLII- -The Giants 497 

CHAPTER CLIII— Wonderful Progress 499 

CHAPTER CLIV— The Morning Time 500 

CHAPTER CLV— The Locomotive Engineer 501 

CHAPTER CLVI— Cost of Life Insurance 503 

CHAPTER CLVII— The Telegraph Operator 506 

CHAPTER CLVIII— The Hairy Chicken 507 

CHAPTER CLIX— Sparks of Humor 509 

CHAPTER CLX— Now and Then 511 



CHAPTER I. 




THE PIONEER. 

8 THE pioneer penetrated the primeval 
forest, he had to adapt himself to the pe- 
culiar conditions in which he was placed. 
Next to the Indian, he was the original 
man. 



The trees first nmst be cut away, 

To let in the light of day; 
They had to live in crude log houses. 

And wear tow shirts and linen trousers. 

They had to use both muscle and a ^villing hand, 

To clear the timber from the land; 
They had to come to this decision, 

And work hard to get their daily coarse provisions. 

Were it not for the hope of a brighter future, the heart 
of the Pioneer, at times, would fail ; but no, he resolutely 
pushed forward from day to day and made the primeval 
forest yield him and his family a fair subsistence. 

We should not be unmindful of the heroic struggles 
of the American Pioneer. Struggling not only for a sub- 
sistence, but that the Banner of America might wave un- 
poluted 1)y a foreign foe, as the emblem of his country, 
forever free. 




THE PIONEEK. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE VESSEL OF THE PYMATUNING OLD FORTS. 

IN 1850 John Hadlock, now of Ashtalnik, O., in 
company with John McMurtry, of Harmons- 
burg, Pa., visited the Pymatuning Swamp, 
situated in Crawford County, Pa. At a point 
where the Pymatuning Creek and another 
stream come together, they boarded an okl vessel (which 
had long been known to exist there) for the purpose of oli- 
taininff some of its timber as a relic. 

They succeeded in getting a piece of live oak plank 
from the deck near the Ijow of the vessel, from which Mr. 
McMurtry made two canes, which are now in the possession 
of his family. Mr. McMurtry died in 1885 at the age of 
102 years. He was one of the Pioneers of Crawford 
County. 

This vessel lies about twenty feet from the channel of 
the Pymatuning Creek, overgrown with moss, birch and 
tamarack trees from four to eighteen inches in diameter. 
The bow stem stuck up about two feet from the mucky 
earth at this time. On the opposite side of the creek from 
where this vessel lay is an old fort, emlmnkments thrown 
up in a semi-circular form, like breastworks, and within 
this semi-circle Spanish coins have been found, and trees 
were standing, some of which were two feet in diameter. 

In his Pioneer Sketches, the Hon. Alfred Huidekoper 
mentions that there seems to have been a preoccupancy of this 



1(3 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

coLiiitry by a more powerful nation than the Indians. 
The above mentioned fact of this vessel in the Pvmatnnino: 
Swamp furnishes a problem for the historian and evidently 
sustains the theory that tliert; was some nation other than 
the Indians, preoccupying this country. And, who was it % 
That's the question. We will have to 2^0 back two or three 
centuries at least to attempt anything of a solution of this 
problem. 

And then we are left in the fog ; 

In this we have no tradition, 

But are left to supposition. 

It is said there is nothing impossible with God. And 
it also seems that there are many wonderful things not im- 
possible for man to accomplish. Then w^e might suppose 
that when De Soto made his discoveries on this continent 
that a portion of his fleet might have ascended the Missis- 
sippi, the Ohio or the Shenango — 

And got stuck in the Pymatuning bog, 
But as to this we are left in the foff. 



r^ 



CHAPTER III. 



GREAT MEN. 




COLUMBUS, WASHINGTOX, LINCOLN, GRANT. 

INCE the creation of the world it seems 
that men from humble birth have 
been created and raised up for the 
great emergencies of the day. 

We need go back but nineteen 
centuries to note Christ crucified for 
his goodness to humanity. 

A. D. 1492. 



"Columbus said there was land in the West, 
Others said no; but he kuew hest." 



CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 

The Four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of 
America and its observance by a World's Fair at Chicago 
is approaching, and it is meet that we make some mention 
of the Italian seaman, whose labors resulted in the discov- 
ery of a new continent. 

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in li36, 
the son of a poor wool-carder. He early took to the sea. 
His spare time was devoted to the study of astronomy, 
geometry, arithmetic, cosmogi'aphy, history and philoso})hy. 
He obtained a very good education, which was perfected 
in the University of Pavia. 



18 PIOXEER SKETCHES. 

At the age of fourteen he went aboard an Italian ves- 
sel and worked his way up until he had assumed the com- 
mand of a cruiser. He married the daughter of the gov- 
ernor of Santa Porta, who was an al^le navigator l)ut a poor 
man. 

Columbus not only had hard work supporting his own 
famih", but was obliged to help sustain his father and young 
brothel', ^^'llile struggling along in poverty, he heard of 
the finding of great J^eds and a bit of carved wood floating 
out at sea from the West. 

The idea at once presented itself of a western ocean 
passage to India. This theory was strengthened l)y ancient 
tradition, and after negotiations with scientists, who had 
given the subject their attention, he applied to King John 
II of Portugal for means to fit out an expedition to seek a 
western passage to India. The Portuguese King kept him 
waiting with half })romises. Columbus' wife died, and he 
left Portugal in indignation. 

He wandered with his little son to a convent in Anda- 
lusia, where he was taken up and lived two years, through 
the aid of the Prior of the Convent, who became enlisted 
in Columbus' cause. The latter w\as presented to Queen 
Isabelhi of Spain, to whom he applied ft)r the same privi- 
lege he had asked of Kins; John. After much solicitation, 
three small vessels, the Nina, Pinta and Santa jNIaria, were 
fitted out, and Columbus was given the title of Viceroy or 
Governor of all the land that he might discover. 

August 3d, 1492, he set sail from Palos with 120 men, 
and on October 12th of the same year discovered land — 
the ishsnd of San Salvador. On tiie latter i)art of the voy- 
age the crew had become mutinous, and, had not land been 
found wlien it was, C()luml)us would have been tlu'own 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 19 

overl3oard by a set of foolhardy mutineers who, in all prob- 
aljility, would never again have reached their native land. 
Cuba and Hispaniola (Hayti) were also discovered, and in 
March, 1493, the adventurers reached home, where thev 
were received with high honors. Columl)us was given the 
title of Admiral. He made two subsequent voyages, dis- 
covering Jam-iica. Porto Rico and other islands; visited 
terra hrma at the mouth of the Orinoco and founded a colo- 
ny at Hispaniola, of which he assumed the Governorship. 
In 150(» he was deposed and taken in chains to Spain. The 
pul^lic were indignant, and Columbus was released, but not 
replaced in power. 

He made a fourth voyage in 1502, explored the coast 
of Honduras, was shipwrecked and escaped to Jamaica, 
which island he left in 1503, returned to Spain, and after 
many hardships, expired at Valladolid in 1506. 

Here was a gentleman, a scholar, a brave adventurer 
and explorer — 

Who said there was land in the West, 
Others said no; but he knew best. 
His native countrymen of Hayti and Spain 
Imj^risoned him, because he bad some brain. 

That dominant, aristocratic will grew harder, 

Because his sire was a poor wool-carder. 

There is a natural freak ever to remain, 

If aristocrats have the money, they haven't all the brain. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

In 1750 the French built Fort Macault at Franklin, 
Fort Le])oeuf at Waterford and Fort Presque Isle, at Erie, 
Pennsylvania. 



20 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Later, Gen. Braddock said he was not going to be 
dictated to bj that young American buckskin, (George 
Washington.) But he soon found, had his aristocratic lord- 
ship taken Washington's advice, it would have probably 
turned defeat into victory — instead of the death-trap for 
many of his soldiers at Braddock's Fields, near Pittsburg, 
by the French and Indians. 

And so you will notice in the history of this country 
and of Europe, that the nobleman and the aristocrat is loth 
to advise with the man of humble birth ; ^vhen by heroic 
deeds he has become a conqueror or a millionaire, and has 
worked his way up to public favor, he will be recognized. 
Then, 'tis "how do you do," General Washington or Presi- 
dent Lincoln or General Grant. 

These great men were not l^orn Avith a silver spoon in 
their mouths, but by their efforts cut their way through 
upward, and stood by their own merit on the pinacle of 
fame. 

Washington was the man for his day. — the Father of 
his Country — to look after the sparsely inhabited colonies, 
to aid in his superhuman manner in kcei)ing a heart in the 
poorly fed and barefooted soldier, through the dark days of 
the Revolution; requiring a man of nerve, endurance and 
Christianity, which elements were found to be embodied in 
the nol)le Washington. 

At the close of the Revolution, when he desired to rest 
from his labors and enjoy his quiet and i)leasant home at 
Mount Vernon, when in full vigor of life, had occasion to 
call in a doctor, who bled him time and again, when the 
noble man said : "Don't bleed me to death; let me die in 



PIONEER SKE7THES. 21 

peace." But we are told that the hincet had ah-eady done 
the work, and he died, as it were, in the full vigor of man- 
hood, an untimely death. 

LINCOLN AND GRANT. 

During the dark days of '61-2 when our country, from 
Maine to Texas, California and Oregon, across to the Atlan- 
tic, was embroiled, seething hot and fighting terribly; was 
going on at the front, about even-handed, victory with 
defeat; while many l)rave boys were slain and many official 
heads being cut ofi' through the machinations of greed, d(v 
sign, intrigue, wire-pulling, and God only knows what all, 
our great President saw that the fine army of McClel- 
land, on the Potcmiac, was not accomplisliing wdiat he 
thought it ought to, a change of commanders resulted, 
and the reader knows that other changes came; and when 
Gen. Halleck was in command he also saw that Gen. Grant 
was l)y this commander handicapped in his operations in 
Tennessee, and when looking back to Donaldson, Henry 
and Vicksburg, he could see in the unpretentious, In'ave 
Gen. Grant, a conmiander who would fight it out on that 
line, and eventually close that unholy Avar. Therefore to 
Grant was given supreme command of the whole army. 

Lincoln was raised up for this great emergency. A 
work to do, a problem to solve of the greatest magnitude 
ever on the American continent. True, his soldiers, unUke 
Washington's, did not have to go hungry and barefooted, 
but some of them even worse, undergoing impositions from 
currish beings under the garb of men, and thousands of 
brave boys when in Andersonville and Lil)by prisons, the 
hell holes of the South. How did these ])rave l)oys look, 
those who came out alive '{ 



22 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

From the time the first rel)el gun was fired on Sumter 
the intrepid Lincoln threw his whole soul into the cause of 
humanity and his country. 

What mortal man had such a Herculean task before 
him ? What man could have done better? 

"Forever struggling for the Union of our land, 
When accomplished cut down by an assassin's hand, 
Thus ended Washington's and Lincoln's life career, 
But during their days they lived without a peer." 



CHAPTER IV. 



LIFE AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE. 



^N THE early clays of the Pioneer of 
this coiintiy life and accident insur- 
ance was unknown. But with the 
onward march of time comes, aye, a 
wonderful growth and a rapid in- 
crease of population, which to-day is 
a menace to the honest, industrious 
American toiler, who, upon the labor 
market, has to compete with an inferior competitor, at 
times, to earn a subsistance for himself and family. And 
when he looks about him he finds the mighty man of avar- 
ice already here. Syndicttes of Europe are here. And a 
mighty concentration of capital is here. Millions of the 
broad acreage of God's green, fertile earth, is concentrated 
in the hands of the few. 




Commercial enterprises and business pursuits are being 
coralled and 1)rought into the ring of the giant. And again 
the toiler looks around for that prospective home afar off ; 
he sees in the dim distance the avenues of hope closing 
up around him, and as he proceeds onward towards the 
promised land, h(^ linds the door closed, upon which is in- 
scribed in large letters, ''No Admittance." 

With disheartened mien and pensive mood he retraces 
his steps and asks himself: "What am I to do?" I answer: 
"Insure." That is the avenue left open for the young. 



24 PIOXEEH SKETCHES. 

the middle or the aged man, to secure a competency for 
himself, if living a few j'eai's, or for dependent ones, 
when you can no longer provide for them. This is the only 
avenue, to a competenc}', for the many, as you can secure 
your magna charta by paying in semi-monthly, quarterly, 
semi-annually or yearly installments, and secure your in- 
demnity, in as safe institutions as there arc in the M^orld. 

"But," says one, "I feel as though I would soon get 
through and be on mA^ road to Heaven, and let my family 
look out for themselves. " Yes, how would we look being 
wafted Heavenward while our family is being trotted off 
to the poor house i 

But I fear that some of you will, soon, perhaps, 
Wish you had not let your policy lapse; 
Accident is liable to overtake you ; 
Disaster comes too late to awake you. 

But, while the lamp holds out to buru, 
The most improvident may return 
To consider well, the sure and safer way, 
To reinstate your insurance to-day. 



CHAPTER V. 




MEADA'ILLE. 

JEADVILLE is the county scat of Crawford 
£^t/L^,-n I County, Pa., and is beautifully situated in 
~ ' - the French Creek or Venango River Valley 
and upon its sloping sides. Meadville is an 
old historic town, settled over 100 years 
ago by the whites, or at much earlier date 
by the Indians who, among the white pioneer settlers, held 
high carnival, killing some and taking others captive. 

That stream emptying into the French Creek at Mead- 
\alle, named by the Indian the Cussawago, together with 
the large stream, French Creek, and fine valleys and hill- 
sides, abounding in fish and most all sorts of wild game, 
a genial climate sheltered Ijy its timber and hillsides, 
afforded a paradise for the Indian and he was loth to give 
it up — 

And was determined to remain 
On his original domain. 

But poor Lo here, as elsewhere, is destined to a slow, 
but sure, extinction. 

Meadville is noted for its educational advantages, its 
Allegheny College, founded in 1820, and many throughout 
the states of our Union have there obtained tlieir title of 
A. B. 

There is perhaps no city on this continent, that has a 
better educated people, and few cities of the same size has 
more wealth and social refinement, or better public build- 
ings, or more al)le jurists. 



26 FIOXEER SKETCHES. 

With such citizens as the Huidekopers, Derricksons, 
Dicks, Riclimonds, Churches, Farleys, Hendersons, and 
many others who might be mentioned, in Meadville, it must 
be of some prominence. Despite the absence of the boom- 
ing; elements of fiowino: oil wells and g'ushinij o-assers, a 
railroad center or a seaport town, Meadville is a solid town 
and in case either of the al)ove elements should strike them, 
they would — 

Be prepared to take it easy, 

AVhether it should be gassy or be greasy. 

Meadville, being the county seat, also furnished a 
pretty good market for many articles, especially after the 
Atlantic & Great Western Railway and its extensive shops 
were built, and the McHenry House, and that village of 
railway company's houses duplicating eaclf other. 

A considerable traffic by the way of the Erie & Pitts- 
burg Canal to the Suumiit, thence via Conneaut Lake and 
Evansljurg up the feeder to Meadville The water that 
supplied this canal feeder was taken from French Creek 
above Meadville. Were it not for a more rapid transit for 
the people to get around the country, the Erie & Pittsburg 
Canal would be of more real value to-day, to Eric City, 
Crawford, ]Mercer and Lawrence counties, than is the Erie 
& Pittsburg Railroad. And it seems that the people along 
the line of the Erie Canal and the New York Central Rail- 
road think about as nmch of the one as the other. The 
fact is they could not well do without either one of them. 
In case of the al)andonnient of the canal, traffic would be in- 
creased on the Central, and commercial rates from Buffido 
to New York would rule much higher. But we arc living 
in a fast age, 'mongst a fast peo}jle — 

And as the people travel from state to state, 
They are Ixduul to go at a lightning rate. 



CHAPTER VI. 



FOR3IER DAYS. 




Sketches of Eaki.y History of Crawford County and Mead- 
VILLE. — Xoies by A. Hnidekoper . 

ASSING OVER with a Ijricf notice of the 
expedition early in the winter of A. D. 
17.");), of then Major George Washington 
and his companion Mr. Gist, who passed 
lip French Creek Valley en route to 
Waterford, to demand of the French 
Connnander by what right he held that place; the lihint 
reply given him, that it was held by order and claim of 
France; the courtesy shown to Washington by the French 
officers, and (his horses having given out) the dangerous and 
wearisome tramp back on foot of Washington and his com- 
rade to the Ahegheny River, there having to make a raft, 
from which Washington, by a collision with ice, was 
thrown into the river and ol)liged to spend the night on an 
island, walking about to keep from freezing, while his 
comrade, less fortunate, had his lingers frozen, I proceed 
to comment on the valley of French Creek as it presented 
itself, including the island and for a mile or two above and 
below the present city, to the first Pioneers who came here. 

It is ditficult to believe that Indians, with their simple 
instruments, could ever have cleared away such a forest as 
would naturally grow on such fertile land. The Indians 
alleged that the work had not been done by them. A tra- 
dition among them attributes it to a larger and more pow- 



28 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

crful race of inhabitants who had pre-ocenpied the country. 
From relics turned up in plowing, it would appear that the 
common implements of the Indians here were the stone 
war clul) and tlie flint arrow head. The interments proba- 
bly indicate where the Indian settlements were most dense. 
One of these was situated west of the acjueduct, six miles 
below town. Another is on a bluft' on the Fish farm. In 
a skeleton taken from this one was found imbeded a flint 
arrow, the probable cause of death. In the valley, a short 
distance below the glass works, was a funeral mound some 
fifty feet long and some three feet high which, when leveled 
down a few years ago, presented several skeletons and some 
Indian implements now preserved in the Library Museum. 
By the side of one of the skeletons was a smooth, perfectly 
round hole some two or more feet deep and a foot or so in 
diameter, where food had no doubt been placed for the de- 
ceased. Whatever it was, it had disappeared through 
time. Another place of interment was across the creek 
near Mr. Van Horn's mill. 

INDIAN REMAINS. 

The signs of Indian occupations are far more numer- 
ous along the Pymatuning Swani}) than in the French 
Creek Valley. In the latter locality, some years ago, the 
remains of what had been stockade forts could easily be 
seen, some half dozen on the east side and one on the west. 

As at the period the-e forts were constructed wild 
game was abundant and millions of pigeons came there, 
as they did in the davs of my boyhood, annuall}- visiting 
this section of country, one can conceive the inducements 
Indians had to live in that locality. These forts were uni- 
fornih' round, the earthen walls being some three feet high 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 29 

in which the wooden stockade originally driven has 
long since disappeared. The interior is full of little pits 
containing charcoal and ashes, where the Indians cooked 
their food. In one fort on the west side of the swamp, 
some miles south of the others and in the forest, a number 
of trees were embraced in the earthen wall. One of them, 
an oak, w^hich I measured, was over ten feet in circumfer- 
ence. I am sorry to say that no conservative spirit on the 
part of the land owners has protected these forts and I 
doubt if any of them now exist. 

As a prol^lem for historians I would say that in the 
year 1S34, when surveying near Sorrel Hill, in the extreme 
western part of the county, I came across trees that had 
been blazed on a north and south line apparently with a 
sharp axe, 112 years before that time or 166 years from 
the present time. 

Who could have done this ? 

On the 10th of August, 1791, James Dickson (known 
as Scotch Jemmy to distinguish him from a namesake) 
when seeking his cows on the farm of Samuel Lord, Esq., 
was attacked liy Indians in ambuscade. He was wounded 
in his shoulder, his hip and his hand. While stooping, 
trying to see his foes, a bullet passed through his hat. The 
old man, with a shout of detiance, exclaimed in broad 
Scotch: "Come out of that, you rascals, and fight us 
fair!" The Indians showing no assent to the proposition, 
Dixon conmienced a retreat. The Indians, their guns be- 
ing unloaded, follo^ved with tomahawks but were afraid to 
approach near him. The old man always insisted after- 
wards that just when he was going to tire a low voice said: 
"don't shoot," whereupon, preserving his load, he thereby 
saved his life. Ke was Avilling to join with three or four 



30 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

men who started out in pursuit of the Indians l3ut the hit- 
ter escaped by a timely retreat. 

The wife of Darius Mead died this summer (1794) in 
Meadville, being (except those occasioned by Indians) the 
first death in Crawford County among the white inhabitants. 

On the third day of June this year (1794) James Find- 
hiy and Barnabas McCormick were killed l)y Indians while 
splitting rails for John Halens, about a mile west of the 
aqueduct. Guns having been heard, search was made and 
they were found dead and scalped by their savage assailants. 
The bodies were placed in one coffin and interred in the 
Meadville Cemetery. 

The treaty of General Wayne with the Western Indians 
on the 3d day of August, 1795. ratified on the 'I'lA day of 
December, brought peace so far as Indian hostilities were 
concerned to Northwestern Pennsylvania. 

Meadville, the county seat, was originally planned in 
1790 l)y General David Mead, but the plan was enlarged 
and matured in the year 1795 by Major Roger Alden and 
Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy. 

The plot for the town was divided into 75 squares by 
streets, alleys and lanes. The Diamond Avas laid oil" in the 
form of a parallelogram, measuring 300 feet east and west, 
by 600 north and south, designed for public use. On the 
east side of this now stands a large, commodious brick court 
house, built in 1825, planned by Mr. Strickland, of Phila- 
delphia. 

On the west stands the Episcopal Church, from ])lan of 
Bisho}) Hopkins, of Vermont. 

On the south stands the Unitarian Church, of brick, 
with Doric colunnis, with i)lan of Gen. George W. Cullum. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 31 

On the west side of the Diamond, some lialf way ))e- 
tween Centre and Chestnut Streets, stood tlie first jail, made 
stronofly of hewed losfs. with a i)alisude-i)rotected yard ])e- 
hind it. The story above the jail Avas of frame work and 
used as a court house, the judges haAing an elevated seat at 
the south end, and a circular enclosure dividins: the bar and 
jury from the audience. 

It was in this court room that Van Holland, the nun-- 
derer of Hugh Fitzpatrick, in 1817, and David Lamphier, 
who killed a constable with an axe when attempting to arrest 
him, were tried and convicted; being as }'et tlie only crimi- 
nals ever pulilicly executed in this county. 

The l)rick building south of the Uiiitarian Church was 
built for the office of the county commissioners. When they 
removed to the court house. President Timothy Alden used 
it as a librar}^ for the books donated to the Allegheny Col- 
lege, the building of the latter being then i^rospeclive. 

SCHOOLS. 

In 1802 an Act was passed incorporating a seminary of 
learning, and James Burchfield, James Herrington, John 
Brook, Henry Richards, William Moore, John Patterson, 
John Limber and Henry Hurst, were made trustees. A 
one-story brick building, containing two rooms, was com- 
pleted in the fall of 1805 at the southeast corner of Liberty 
and Chestnut Streets, where it stood for about 20 years. In 
it the Kev. Joseph Stockton gave instructions in Latin and 
Greek and the common branches of English education. 

Some vears afterwards Mr. Andrew Lefiuirwell tauirht 
an English school in the same building. I recall an amus- 
ing incident under his rule. Wisiiing to punish a boy for 
misbehavior, he requested Mr. Wilso.i Dick then a p:ii)il, 



32 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

to go out and cut a switch for liim. The latter thinking 
the errand rather an undignified oiie for a boy of his size, 
after a long delay came back with two poles 15 feet long 
and laid them with gravity before the teacher — the gravity 
not extending to the rest of the scholars. 

Rev. Timothy Alden taught a classical school in the 
small frame house two doors west of St. Joseph's Hospital, 
and Judge Derrickson taught one in the Clinton Cullum 
and afterwards in a house now gone, al)out Avhere the Opera 
House now stands. 

I recall when a very small l)()y going to a very primi- 
tive school, taught by a Mr. Douglas, on Arch street. The 
boys all sat on low benches, and the teacher used to preserve 
order an instrument called ''Taws," made of leather strings, 
fastened to a handle. If a boy misl^ehaved the "Taws" 
was thrown at him, and he was required to carry it to the 
master and abide results. A spell of sickness shortened my 
term to a week and I am happy to say I had no experience 
with "Taws."" 

OLD HOUSES AND RESIDENTS. 

I close my article with a notice of old houses and resi- 
dents on Water Street. Near where the freight depot is 
now stood the residence of Hon. William Clark, who I think 
was secretary under the administration of John Quincy 
Adams in 1S24. One old house standing back from the 
road, about half-way from Kennedy's Bridge to Water 
Street, Avas occupied by John Gibson. The next house 
standing back east of Water Street with a yard planted with 
trees in front, was that of H. J. Iliiidekoper, erected in 
1805. It was a frame house with two recessed wings. 
North of it was a plastered brick building used for a Land 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 33 

office. Here a large part of the lands of the Holland Land 
Company in four counties, and of the Pennsylvania Popu- 
lation Company in two counties, were sold ])y H. J. Huide- 
koper, their agent. 

Both of these houses have been supplanted by new 
ones. East of "Water Street, near now Pine Street, was the 
next house, oceui)ied by Barzella Goodrich, a carpenter 
crip]iled with rheumatism, Init whose ingenuity made him 
the factotum of the village at that early time. 

Following up the east side of AVater Street, near Mill 
Run, was the hotel of Roswell Sexton, and connected with it 
was the office of Samuel Lord, Esq., who at that time was 
the owner and lived on the place now of Mr. AVilliam 
Reynolds. In common with many others of that day, the 
'Squire w^as somewhat addicted to profanity, but when the 
minister one day coming up heard him and, tapping him 
on the shoulder, said, '''Squire, suppose you skip some of 
those hard words," it is said the remark left its impression 
on him. One morning the 'Sciuire saw several l)lack men 
on the other side of the street, harrying northward toward 
Canada. Looking at them sternly, in his stentorian voice 
he said, " Did you run away ? " The i)oor fugitives ^tood 
trembling in their shoes until he added, "'If you did, keep 
OD ; don't stop here." 

On the southeast corner of AVater and Chestnut Streets 
was the store of Arthur Cullum, the elder. South of this 
was a large barn yard of Samuel Torbett. In this yard was 
exhibited the first menagerie visiting Meadville. When 
Mr. White, a 3'oung medical student, entered the exhibition 
room, a lion became greatly excited. Mr, White went 
home and changed his clothes, but as soon as he re-appeared 



34 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

the lion became so excited again that the manager had to 
request Mr. White to retire. 

Across Water Street was the once Torbett Hotel, which 
any citizen now living, who ever attended the dancing 
school of Mr. Torbett, in the hotel ball room, will remem- 
ber as a place full of pleasant memories. 

Across Chestnut Street from the Cullum store was the 
Gibson Hotel, noted for its order and excellence, and north 
of it, beyond the alley, still stands the frame building 
where the first Courts were held in now Crawford County, 
the Judges, until the County was sej^arated from Allegheny 
County, coming from Pittsburg. The l>uilding was also 
used at times for religious services. Across from this 
buildino: was the old log house much sunk at the ends, the 
home of the Waab and Bosler families, the original owners 
of the island. On the east side of the street, north of the 
court room, was the home of Eliphalet Bctts, in his day the 
leading if not the only village tailor. Small in size, he is 
said to have been in early life one of the most popular 
riders in horse racing, at that time a very common amuse- 
ment. North of Mr. Bctts lived Mr. General George 
Hurst, a prominent citizen, and northward across Centre 
Street lived Colonel Wm. Mayard, who built paper mills in 
Woodcock township and discovered ho"\v to make straw pa- 
per, a process only known in the East Indies prior to his 
discovery. North of Colonel Mayard's house was the 
dwelling of Dr. Dani(4 Benms, who married a daughter of 
Mr. Wm. Miles of Union City. Across the street was tlu^ 
honu^ of John Reynolds, who married the widow of Dr. 
P^licot, the person who l)uilt the bridge over French Creek 
leading to Kerrtown. North of Mr. Reynolds, across an 
alley, still stands the very old store of Major Harriot. 



PIONEER SKE7XHES. 35 

Eastward, across the street from this store, was the old 
Meadville Bank, of which Joseph Morrison was cashier. 
It has lately been taken down to make room for a large 
brick building. I pass on to the house of General Mead, 
who died August 23d, 1816. The house the next year be- 
came the home of Mr. Jared Shattuck, who, having pur- 
chased a large body of land in partnership with a Mr. Peck, 
moved here to attend to it. Mrs. Shattuck was a daughter 
of the Governor of Hayti, and was driven out of the island 
when the Haytians achieved their freedom. For many 
3'ears she received from the French government a pension, 
which the writer of this collected for her. The Mead house 
has lately been occupied by Rev. Mr. Billsl^y. I have of 
course omitted some persons and some places I would have 
liked to refer to, but space is limited. 



CHAPTER VII. 

SKETCH OF CORNELIUS VAN HORN. 
An Exploring Party -Captured by the Indians. 

COKXELIUS VAN HORN, one of the orig- 
inal Pioneers of Crawford County, who lived 
the greater part of his long and useful life 
here, was born in Hunterdon County, New 
York, December 16, 1750. He was the 
eldest child of Thomas and Jane Van Horn, and was of 
Dutch descent, his ancestors having come from Holland to 
this country over a hundred years before his birth. 

His father died a short time before the Revolutionary 
War, intestate, although after his death the draft of a will 
was discovered, unexecuted, which indicated the manner in 
which he wished to dispose of his property among his six 
children ; l)ut under the laws of England then in force in 
the Colonies, Cornelius became sole heir to his father's 
estate. But the subject of this sketch not being willing to 
take the advantage oi his brothers and sisters, which the 
law gave him, took immediate and eflective steps to have 
his brothers and sisters put into the possession and owner- 
ship of the different parts of the estate, to which the unex- 
ecuted will, if it had l)een properly executed, Avould have 
entitled them. 

The part allotted to Cornelius was a tract of land in 
the Wyoming Valley, near or u})()n which the city of 
Wilkesbarre now stands. He moved on to this tract of land, 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 37 

but, during his service in the Revohitionary arm}-, a man 
named John Dorrance, a Connecticut claimant and an 
ancestor of Colonel J. F. Dorrance of this city, took pos- 
session of the land. There was much trouble and litigation 
about the title, which was finally decided in favor of Van 
Horn, and is reported in 2d Dallas, 304. The State, how- 
ever, fearing a rebellion of the Connecticut settlers against 
the State authorities, in case the decree of the Court against 
Dorrance and the other settlers should be enforced, had the 
land involved in dispute appraised, and many years after- 
wards paid the actual owners a small stipend for their title. 

AN EXPLORING PARTY. 

Having voluntarily given up a large estate in New 
Jersey, and Ijeing driven from his rightful heritage in the 
Wyoming Valley, Van Horn, in the Spring of 1TS8, decided 
to explore the valley of French Creek, or, as it was then 
called ])y the French and Indians, Venango River, referred 
to by General (then Colonel) Washington, in his rei)ort to 
Governor Dinwiddle, of Virginia. 

He joined a comi)any, with David. John and Joseph 
Mead, John Watson, Thomas Martin, Thomas Grant, Jam(\s 
F. Randolph, and Christopher Snyder, at Sunlnny, and on 
the 12th day of May. 1788, after a tedious journey through 
the wilderness, encamped under a large wild cherry tree, 
near where the east end of where the Mercer Street iron 
bridge stands. 

ARRIVAL AND SETTLEMENT. 

The only reliable date of the arrival of the earliest set- 
tlers, is that given by Van Horn in his narrative, written 
about 1835, twelve or thirteen years before his death, and 



38 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

now in the possession of the Historical Society of Philadel- 
phia at Philadelphia. 

After some time spent in exploring, they erected a tem- 
porary abode on the spot where Meadville now stands. 

CAPTURED BY INDIANS. 

On the 5th day of May, 1791, while engaged in mark- 
ing out corn .ground in company with two men, named 
Gregg and Ray, near where the passenger station of the 
N. Y., P. & O. R. R. now stands. Van Horn was attacked 
by the Indians and taken prisoner. His companions had, 
at tlie time of the capture, gone to dinner, and were to 
bring his to the field. When these companions returned to 
the tield they were attacked by the same Indians, and Gregg 
was killed and scalped, and Ray taken prisoner. The sub- 
ject of this article was conducted to the outlet of Conneaut 
Lake, and there tied to a small tree, and the old chief who 
had him in charge crawled into the bushes and went to 
sleep while waiting for his comrades, with Ray in charge, 
to come u}). While the chief was asleej), his prisoner man- 
aged to loosen the thongs that bound him to the tree, and 
ran Avith his arms tied behind him through the Avilderness, 
to the point on the west side of French Creek, opposite the 
spot Avhich he and his companions had camp(>d on May 
12th, 1788. At this jwint what has always seemed to mo 
to be almost an unaccountable incident took phice. The 
escaped prisoner had some time previously })lanted some 
api)le seeds near the place reft^rrcd to, and at the time of 
the escape the young trees were to be seen above the ground; 
weeds had sprung up among them and died the year pre- 
vious, and there was danger if tire sliould catch in the 
weeds that the apple trees would l)e destroyed. After all 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 39 

that had happened that day — taken prisoner, taken to Con- 
neaut Lake, escaped, and with his arms pinioned at the 
elbows, behind — Van Horn seeing the danger to his yoimg 
trees, stopped in liis flight and began to pull the weeds 
from among the trees. While engaged in that operation 
was seen by John Fredebaugh who, from the opposite side 
of the creek, took him for an Indian skulking in the bushes 
and was about to shoot when a recognition took place. 
Van Horn then waded the creeR and found a young officer 
and some men at the block house, who were en route from 
Fort LeBoeuf to Fort Franklin. 

THE SETTLEMENT ABANDONED. 

The settlement was abandoned for the time beins:. It 
is not known whether any white man visited the settlement 
of Meadville again that year except Van Horn who, in com- 
pany with an Indian named McGee, came back and got 10 
or 12 bushels of grain and towed it in a canoe down the 
creek to Fort Franklin. 

After this Van Horn visited his mother in New Jersey 
and in the autumn returned to the settlement. He is sup- 
posed to be the lirst white man who passed a winter in or 
near Meadville. 

When Van Horn returned in the fall, after his capture 
and escape, he learned the fate of his companions Ray and 
Gregg. Gregg had been shot with his own gun, and Ray 
had been captiu'ed and taken to Sandusky, where he met a 
trader who was an acciutiintance and who exchanged liquor 
with the Indians for him. Ray made his way Ijack to Pitts- 
burg, where he found his wife. 



40 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

MORE INDIAN TROUBLES. 

In October, 1793, Samuel Lord arrived at the settle- 
ment from Franklin, and warned all to fly for their lives as 
there was danger threatening again from the Indians. This 
warning caused most of the settlers to remove. 

General AVilkins wrote Van Horn from Pittsburg to 
engage a sargeant's command, which he did. They con- 
tinued in the service until the last day of December, whea 
they were disbanded. 

Cornelius Van Horn was a lieuteoant in the Revolu- 
tionary army. He held a command as captain under 
Anthony Wayne and was the acting sheriif in this 
section when this portion of Pennsylvania was Allegheny 
county. He was married to Sarah Dunn in the year 1T*.>7 
and they had born to them six children, viz. : Jane, who 
marrieJ George Anderson; James; Priscilla, who married 
T. J. Fox; Alden, the celebrated lawyer; Cornelius, Har- 
riet and Thomas; the last named of whom is the only sur- 
vivor and is residing on the homestead farm patented by 
his father in the year 1800 under the name of Southamp- 
ton. He died July 26th, lSl-6, in his OTth year. Much 
more might be written of this sturdy Pioneer, but for fear 
of becomino; tiresome I will close. — 'Notes^ C. Yan Horn. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

JN HIS pioneer sketches of Meadville and 
Crawford County, the Hon. John Dick 
says: 

In 1794 his father, William Dick, re- 
moved with his family to Meadville. His 
famil}% four in number, viz. : his Avife and 
two sons, George and himself, who was l)etween four and 
five months old when they arrived in Meadville. 

At that period there were no means of transportation 
but 1)3' the A llegheny Kiver or bypack horses. His father 
chose the former and cmljarked with his family and goods 
on board a keel boat bound for Franklin, at the junction 
of the French Creek with the Allegheny Eiver. This 
journey occupied three weeks to Franklin. Franklin was 
then a military post established by the Government to pro- 
tect its settlers. The fort was under the command of Lieu- 
tenant Polhemus and Ensign Rosencrantz;. Several mem- 
bers of this command became residents of Meadville, 
amongst whom were John Wentworth, Luke Hill, Sar- 
gcant Muzzy, Samuel Lord and Martin Kicencedi.'r, names 
now familiar to many of the old citizens. 

Mrs. Dick followed on ptick horses, Avith her infant 
son on her lap, along the Indian path, from Franklin to 
Meadville, which in many places AA'as overhung with bushes 
that nearly SAvept her from her seat. On arriving at 
Meadville General Mead invited them to his house until 
some provision should be made for them. 



42 PIONEER SKE7CHES. 

GENERAL MEAD's STOCKADE HOUSE. 

There was a stockade erected about his premises as a 
protection from the attacks of the Indians, who were very 
numerous and troublesome. The stockade was built by 
planting timbers close together and was about fifteen feet 
high. The only residents at the time of Mr. Dick's arrival 
at Meadville were General David Mead, James Dickson, 
Thomas Ray, David Bulyer, William Jones, Hobert F. 
Randolph, James Finey and Cornelius Van Horn. 

In 1796 Mr. Dick built a two-story house on the cor- 
ner of Water Street and an alky and removed his family 
there the same fall. In ITUT he built a house for General 
Mead, which now is standing at the head of Water Street, 
(Dr. Ellis' residence,) being the oldest house in the city. 

March 12, 1800, the Legislature passed a law to organ- 
ize CraAvford County. A building erected by Mr. Dick 
was finished up for a Court House, and the first Court held 
by David Mead and John Kelso, Associate Judges, in July, 
1800, and by Judge Addison in 1801, Judge Kelso and 
Judge Bell being the Associates. 

In 1803 Mr. Dick l)uilt a Court House and Jail on the 
west side of the Diamond, which was occupied many years 
as such. 

THE EARLY BAR. 

At the early period of judicial business of this County 
there were many of the first talents of the Bar in regular 
attendance on the; Courts: — Hon. Henry Baldwin, State 
Sui)rcme Judge; Hon. Wm. Wilkins, John Woods, Tlumias 
Collins, Steel Sample, James Ross, Parker Cam})l)ell and 
George Armstrong, all men of more than ordinary ability, 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 4B 

and some not surpassed in their day. Of the resident law- 
yers were several who were at the head of the profession: — 
Alexander W. Foster, Patrick Farrelly, Samuel R. Foster, 
John W. Hunter and others. 

The first Prothonotary was Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy; 
Wm. Moore Register and Recorder, and Alex. Stewart the 
first Sheriff. 

The successful campaign of General Wayne the same 
year against the Indians, and his treaty with them rendered 
more secure the settlers, and emigration increased. 

In 1TS9-90 General Mead built the first saw mill, and 
in the Fall of 1790 he Iniilt the first small grist mill near 
his saw mill. Both were operated by water from Mill Run, 
there being sufficient water to run both mills the greater 
part of the year. 

Soon after, others built saw mills. Roger Alden built 
a gi'ist mill in 1801 at Seagertown ; Archibald Humes built 
one on Gravel Run, James Dickson built one on Woodcock, 
and Alexander Power built one on Conneaut Creek, near 
Conneautville. Thus the settlers were saved much laboi" 
and expense in procuring food for their families. 

THE PKIVATIONS OF SETTLERS. 

For many years after their removal to Meadville, Mr. 
Dick says they sufiered man}' privations for want of the 
actual necessaries of life. For the first year all of their 
supplies were brought from Pittsburg on pack-horses. Late 
in the Fall of ITi*.") his father started with four horses to 
pack a supi)ly of fiour from Pittsburg, for his family during 
the winter. He expected to be absent al)out eight or ten 
days, but did not return for nearly six weeks, in conse- 



44 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

quence of the fall of snow about four feet deep. There 
were no roads opened, and consequently no travel to Ijreak 
the roads. His mother and the children sul>sisted principally 
upon frozen potatoes, venison and l>ear meat until their 
father's return. The few neighbors were no better oflf than 
they, but a disposition to divide with and assist each 
other was strongly manifested by all. 

During the summer large bodies of Indians were en- 
camped in and about the village, hunting and fishing. 
French Creek abounded at that time with tine fish and eels 
and deer and turkeys were often killed within the lines of 
the village. 

THE INDIANS. 

The Indians in general were peaceable, except when 
vmder the influence of whisky, which was furnished them 
})y traders. On one occasion Wm. Dick went down to 
where a large number were camped and purchased a dressed 
deer skin. When returning he met an Indian who charged 
him with stealing the skin, and attempted to take it from 
him, but he being a stout and resolute man, did not feel 
disposed to yield to his demands. He' felled him to the 
ground and })icked u}) an ox gad and belabored him right 
soundly. He was soon after surrounded by a large numl)er 
of Indians who were determined to have revenge. One 
of them approached from behind with a large knife, but a 
bystander called to Mr. Dick, to warn him of his danger, 
when he wheeled around, caught the fellow in the act of 
striking him, threw him down, seized the knife, and, in 
drawing it from him, cut the savage's hand nearly through. 
Finding himself surrounded and in danger of his life, he 
made his way to General Mead's house. In a short time 
the l)uilding was surrounded by Indians, demanding the 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 45 

surrender of Mr. Dick. Owing to the firmness of General 
Mead and a few others who remained with him during; the 
night, further hostilities were prevented. After an explan- 
ation of the matter the mass of the Indians were satisfied 
that he deserved what he got. 

Among the prominent Indians was a celebrated chief, 
whose name in English was Half Town, another Logan, 
Cheat and Twenty Canoes. Others when translated were 
Laughing Thief, Stinking Fish and Surly Bear. 

On one occasion Half Town (with his squaw) called and 
asked for something to cat. Mrs. Dick set before them some 
cold meat, breatl, butter and milk. After having satisfied their 
hunger they left with many expressions of thanks; shaking 
hands, he remarked: '"Good squaw^, very good." Al)dut 
three months after, near Christmas, their old friend. Half 
Town, made his apjiearance with one of the largest and 
fattest wild turkeys ever seen, completely dressed, and pre- 
sented it to Mrs. Dick. She asked him how much was to 
pay and Half Town seemed quite indignant and said: 
"Good squaw, you much good squaw; you keep him," and 
turned and walked away. He was not to be outdone in 
acts of kindness. As the country became settled and the 
game scarce, they retired to other hunting grounds. 




AN INDIAN JOKE. 



CHAPTER IX. 




AN INDIAN JOKE. 

OL. JOSEPH HACKNEY was about the 
first in Meadville to trade with the Indians 
and had pro\aded such articles as were usu- 
ally required by them. He kept his little 
sup})ly in a small frame building on the 
corner where John McFarland's store now stands. Amoni? 
the prominent articles of trade with the Indians were 
beaver, otter and muskrat skins. At that period there 
were large quantities of beaver taken in the streams and 
marshes of this county. Colonel Hackney had traveled 
among the Indians and acquired a })retty good knowledge 
of their language and many of the natives were quite 
familiar with him. 

On one occasion an Indian came into the store and 
said: "Brother, buy l)eaver skin f "Yes." "How much 
giver' "Six shillings." "Well, take him." The Colonel 
threw the skin up thrqugh a hole in the floor into the loft. 
Wlien the Indian went out he saw a rude ladder 
against the end of the house, where there was an opening 
in the loft. Placing it so that he could reach in he 
stole the beaver skin and an hour after he came l)ack 
and said: "Brother, I have another ])eaver skin, Ikjw 
macli r' "Six shillings/'' After l)eing paid he retired but 
soon after returned with another beaver skin. The Col- 
onel, never suspecting, asked him why he did not bring 



48 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

them all at once; "No; get one at a time." The Colonel 
paid the third time and soon the Indian appeared with an- 
other beaver skin. He began to suspect all was not right 
and examined the loft and found he had been buying the 
same skin over and over asfain. When he taxed the savage 
with his rascality he roared and laughed and thought it a 
first-class joke. And so did all the Coloners acquaintances, 
for I have heard them twit him about it many years 
afterward. 




CHAPTER X. 

A DUEL. 

jXOTHER event of the ear\y days of the city 
as a matter of history, may with propriety 
be recorded. A duel was fought in 180-i 
between General Roger Alden and Alexan- 
der W. Foster. I am not fully informed as to 
the origin of the difficulty, but I l)elieve a 
woman was at the bottom of it. They fought on a point 
of land on French Creek about two miles from the Court 
House on the Randolph Flats. At the first fire Alden fell, 
his antagonist's ball having shattered his thigh bone. He 
was brought home in a canoe by James F. Randolph and 
George McGunnegie. Drs. Wallace of Erie and Kennedy 
of Meadville acted as surgeons on the occasion. Such an 
event in the village ^vould necessarily produce a great deal 
of excitement, each of the belligerents having their personal 
friends, but by judicious forbearance all trouble soon sub- 
sided and the harmony of the citizens was not disturbed. 

HOLLAND LAND COMPANY. 

General Alden was at that time Agent for the Holland 
Land Company in Pennsylvania, Paul Bush, of Philadel- 
phia, being the general agent for the company in Penn- 
sylvania and New York. Large tracts of land were con- 
veyed to the company by the Government in payment for 
money furnished them to carry on the Revolutionary War. 
The settlement of these lands caused much trouljle and liti- 
gation in the Courts for many years, which retarded in a 




A DUEL. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 51 

great measure the settlement of the country. General 
Alden soon after resigned the agency, and was succeeded 
by Ham Jan. Huidekoper, who some years later purchased 
the entire interest of the compan}^ in this State. 

Mr. Huidekoper lived in this community much re- 
spected for his i)hilanthropy and benevolence, and died 
much respected l)y his numerous friends and acquaintances. 

General Alden served with distinction in the Revolu- 
tionary War, and was considered a brave and chivalrous 
officer. He was in possession at one period of some of the 
most valuable property in this vicinity. He became em- 
barrassed in his pecuniary affairs, caused by the revulsion 
in money matters after the War of 1S12, and all of his 
valuable possessions were sold to satisfy his creditors. He 
lived some years afterwards in this place in verj' embarrassed 
circumstances, then receiv^ed an appointment as military 
storekeeper at West Point, where he resided several years, 
and where he died between 80 and 90 years of age. 

In 1793-4 William Gill took possession of and settled 
on a tract of land on French Creek. He l)uilt a cal)in, and 
raised corn and potatoes during the summer. In the fall 
he went to Pittsburg, where his family Avas, iutendins^ to 
lay in supplies and return with his family, l)ut owing to the 
winter setting in early, he deferred his return until the fol- 
lowing sjjring. When he arrived he found the cabin occu- 
pied by Jenny Finney, who claimed possession of the land, 
and stood in the door with rifle in hand and M'arned him to 
leave the premises, or if he attempted to dispossess her she 
would put a ball through him. Mr. Gill, believing discre- 
tion the better part of valor, abandoned the settlement and 
went further up the stream. Jenny Finney remained iu 
possession long enough to perfect her claim, and soon after 



52 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

married General Mead, he being a widower at that time. 
Perhaps the General could not have selected a more suitable 
companion. She Avas well educated, possessed a strong 
mind, indomitable will and great energy of character. The 
tract of land settled by her family became the property of 
her daughter Maria, who was subsequently married to 
William Gill, the son of her adversary in the land claim. 
In the end, singularly enough, the descendants of the con- 
tending parties became joint owners of the property. 

In ISOO the population of Meadville consisted of 25 or 
30 families. Keel boats and canoes were employed in the 
transportation of articles by way of the Allegheny River 
and French Creek, the latter stream being navigable for 
boats of 10 or 12 tons as far asWaterford during the whole 
summer. In 1812 the keel boats were employed in trans- 
porting the necessary armament for the fleet in process of 
building at Erie. All the cannon balls and annnunition of 
every description, together with the cordage, anchors and 
spikes, were shipped to Pittsburg for Waterford, and from 
thence hauled by ox trains to Erie. 

In the early settlement of the western })art of the State 
many of the necessaries of life were shipi)i.'d from the sea- 
board on pack horses across the mountains, and salt would 
at that time cost 50 cents a quart. About the year 1807 
salt was produced in large (juantities at Onondaga, New 
York, and sent to Erie by water, then sent over to Water- 
ford to be shipped to Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Louisville and 
other towns en the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers. The boats 
used for transportation were called "arks/' or "broad 
horns," being from TO to 80 feet long and about 18 feet 
Avide, and would carry about 200 barrels of salt. Twenty 
or thirty ))oats of this descrii)tion would pass Meadville in 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 53 

a single day. This trade increased and continued for seve- 
ral years, and did not cease until 1819. 

These facts are mentioned to shoAV how important to 
the interest, not only of this section but a large extent of 
country beside, was the navigation of French Creek. 

Much inconvenience and danger attended the inhabi- 
tants in that early period for want of bridges across the 
principal streams. 

In April, 1809, a melancholy disaster occurred in which 
three persons lost their lives. Joseph Andrews, David Pat- 
ten and James Milligan were on a ferry-boat near where the 
old Kennedy bridge stands. There were several other per- 
sons on board, besides a yoke of cattle and three horses. 
The boat beinoj overloaded went down about the middle of 
the stream, and the three above named, one horse and one 
ox were drowned. 

The next year Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy built a bridge, 
it being the first ever built across the creek, and it is now 
standing, a monument of the doctor's enterprise. 

There are other incidents of old Crawford, the land of 
our birth, that we might introduce, but other sketches 
and incidents are to be mentioned, and I must pass on to 
other fields. 




CHAPTER XI. 

THE ANCIENT MILITARY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 

By A. B. Richmond. 

War's whole art, each private soldier knows, 

And with a (ieneral'a love of conquests glows.— Addison, 

T IS MEET in this, our Centennial Year, 
that the glory and power of the ancient 
military of Crawford County should not be 
forgotten. Fifty years ago, when I was a 
l)oy, the great day of the year — the day 
that, in my youthful opinion, was that for which all others 
were made, was '"General Training Day." It was usually 
appointed the last of June, at which time it was supposed 
the farmers would have their corn hoed and could well 
afford to spend one day for their country's glory. At that 
time the military of the Commonwealth was divided into 
volunteers and militia. There were a number of uniformed 
volunteer companies in our county, but the great mas;-! of 
the bone and sinew — male — -were mustered under the militia 
law, and were compelled to practic(! the art of war two 
days in each year. Tliis Avas for the purpose of educating 
the yeomanry in the science of military tactics, so that if 
called out to defend our country from the sudden invasion 
of a foreign foe, they might be termed veterans in the sci- 
ence of war. 

Of course it was not expected to give the average 
fanner a West Point education in two days' time, yet it was 
expected that they could be taught to execute the complicated 
militarv mananivcrs of ''■Right and Left Wheel, " ''Shoulder 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 55 

Arms," "Stand at Ease'' and "Break Ranks'" in a manner 
that woukl strike terror to an invading foe that might land 
from foreign ships into the back woods of Pennsylvania. 

I have said that there were a number of uniformed 
companies in the volunteer regiment, and these were mar- 
shalled in battle array the day before the general militia 
"Training Day." The uniform usually varied according 
to the taste of the soldiers. Many of the companies, how- 
ever, presented their characteristic style and color to such 
an extent that a naturalist would have been al)le to deter- 
mine their genus, even if he failed to deti'ct their species. 
lie at least would know that they were uniformed volim- 
teers, no matter what doubts he might have as to the com- 
pany to which they belonged. Some of the companies were 
well and even handsomely uniformed. The Mcadville 
Grays was the crack company of the regiment. Their 
uniform was white pants, gray coats with Imff cross-belts, to 
which were suspended a cartridge box, a priming wire, and 
a small brush to clean the pans of the formidable flint lock 
muskets which were a terror to those who held them, while 
accidental death was the prohahle fate of those at whom 
they were aimed. But the crowning glory of the equipment 
was the hats. Words fail to convey to the present denizens 
of earth even a faint conception of their shape or gravity. 
Verily, they were "fearfully and wonderfully made." Bell 
crowned, in the widest sense of the; term, of the size of an 
ordinary camp kettle, a rigid frame covered with shining 
black leather, on their front a metalic shield as large as those 
carried by the crusaders of old, and Ijlazoned with the form 
of our national bird. This shield supported a lofty plume 
of scarlet wool. From the projecting eaves of the crown 
were suspended festoons of white cotton cord curiously 



56 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

braided, and from these white tassels depended in tasteful 
profusion. A metal clasp passed from the sides of the crown 
under the chin. This was of sufficient size and strength to 
insure an artillery man on a battle-lield that if he could 
only hit a hat the soldier would be decapitated. 

THE MILITARY BAND. 

The Military Band of this company consisted of a fife, 
tenor and bass drum, and its inspiring strains even at this 
distant day echoes through the recesses of my memory with 
painful distinctness, while Yankee Doodle has become an 
important factor in my now educated musical taste. 

Many of our old citizens will remember little Jesse 
Baldwin, whose distinguished uniform was a scarlet coat, 
and who beat the tenor drum so skillfully while grim-visaged 
war was delineated on his every feature. Well do I re- 
member with what feelings of mingled awe and admiration 
I gazed upon him as he marched along in all the glory of 
his position, and how my l)oyish ambition coveted the at- 
tainment, in the distant future, of his fame, skill and uni- 
form. To reach such a point in military greatness seemed 
to me to be the consummation of human glory, and I deter- 
mined to attain it or perish in the attempt. But, alas, 
while amr)ition urged me on, ability lagged l)ehind. :nul I 
never reached the goal. 

DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS COMPANIES. 

The Cussawago wore a neat uniform, consisting of a 
green hunting frock, "and leggings fringed with yellow, a 
light wool hat or cap with a short yellow plume and a black 
leather l)elt, in ^\•hich was hung a tomahawk and scalping 
knife. Suspended by a strap from the shoulders was a 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 57 

powder liorii, so thin and transparent that its eontents could 
be distinctly seen. A bullet pouch and charger completed 
their equipment. 

Each member of .the company' carried a long American 
rifle, the pride of its oAvner, with which their skill was such 
that they could hit a squirrel's head on the top of the 
highest forest tree. The members of this company were 
farmers, well skilled in the wood craft of those early da5^s, 
and would have been formidable adversaries to the trained 
troops of France or England. It was such men as these 
that gave Lexington and Bunker Hill their renown, and 
wrested our forests from savagery and wild beasts. Every 
bullet forced by sturdy hands into those long, slender iron 
tubes was a death warrant, and . every man who carried 
them was skilled in its execution. 

The Sfegertown company presented a neat and soldier- 
like appearance. Their uniform consisted of white pants, 
black swallow tailed coats and white belts sustaining car- 
tridge box and bayonet sheath, black fur plug hats on the 
side of which was fastened a white cockade, in the center 
of which was a ten cent piece. Well do I remember how 
my boyish avarice coveted the wealth thus publicly dis- 
played. They carried muskets, which were supplied to the 
troops from the government arsenal, situated Avherc the 
North Ward school house now stands. 

Next on the roll of fame, of the ancient military of 
Crawford County, was the Meadville Dragoons. Here my 
pen fails me in an attempt to accurately describe the gor- 
geous equipments of this celeJjrated body of warriors, or 
their martial appearance on days of parade. Their coats 
and pants were of steel gray, the former glittering with 
globular luittons of brass, their leather helmets surmounted 



58 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

with a crest of horse hair that hnng down their backs to 
the crupper of the saddle, affording a complete protection 
against invidious sword cuts from an enemy in the rear; 
their ponderous swords of polished iron like that of Sir 
Hudebras — 

With basket hilts that would hold broth, 
And serve for fight and dinner both; 
In which could be melted lead for bullets, 
To shoot at foes and, sometimes, pullets. 

With holster pistols with flint locks and bores the size of 
small artillery, dangerous weapons to the troopers them- 
selves, what must they have been to an advancing foe? 
The horses were of all colors, size and sex, from the mus- 
tang to the plow horse, or the high-stepping, blooded 
charger to those that "were without pride of ancestry, or 
hope of posterity." 

I well remember one June morning, a member of the 
company appeared on parade with a maternal dam and her 
playful offspring. The juvenile steed, somewhat uninter- 
ested with the military evolutions of the company, was 
promptly ordered under guard by the captain. The 
mother and son were accordingly led to the stable of the 
Crawford House, at that time the fashionable hotel of the 
place, the colt (against loud maternal })rotests) was confined 
in a vacant stall and the mother and rider took their place 
at the head of the colunm near the band, a "single bugler." 
The order, "forward, march! nmsic !" was given, the 
column started across the public stjuare, the band blew an 
inspiring blast, in which the (Hsconsolate mother thouglit 
she recognized the plaintive appeals of her imprisoned ofl'- 
spring and answered with an afl'ectionate response that com- 
pletely drowned the bugler's cheering notes. A halt was 



PIONEER SKE 7 CHES . 5 9 

called and the owner of the mother and colt was ordered 
out of the ranks, whereupon he refused to go in a style of 
language highly ornamental. For the balance of the day 
the deceptive notes continued to mislead the maternal mind 
and were affectionately answered by the bereaved mother. 
From that time the company was known as the "Meadville 
Stock Eaising Dragoons." 

Of all the volunteer companies of those early days 
none were more patriotic than the Meadville Dragoons. 
Afterwards, in 1845, when the war cry -'54-40 or tight," 
resounded over our land, I was orderly sergeant of the 
company, very young in years but aged in military ambi- 
tion. Well I rememl)er how the cry fired the hearts of the 
Dragoons. Our swords almost leaped from their scab- 
bards with patriotic zeal. Our pistols rattled in their 
holsters with an ominous, warlike sound, while every horse 
hair on the crest of our helmets "'bristled on end like the 
quills of a fretful porcupine." "We all regretted when the 
white hand of peace smoothed war's frowning face and 
corrugated brow, and continued to regret until the news 
came that war had been declared against Mexico, when the 
Meadville Dragoons suddenly disbanded. ^^Slc transit, 
gloria rmindi?'' 

There were several fragmentary portions of other uni- 
formed companies at that time that seemed to bo fossilifer- 
ous remains of past ages. Their uniforms were diversified 
and unique, Ijut were generally composed of the ordinary 
holiday suits of the farmers ornamented with white belts 
and colored scarfs. I remember the fragment of ti com- 
pany called the "Washington Guards." The only distinct- 
ive feature that remains in my recollection was a large 
shield of painted tin in front of their hats. They were 



(30 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

kept in place by red cords passino- through holes in the top 
and bottom of the shields and around the hat crown, 
where they were tied in a bow with pendant tassels. The 
front of the shields were ornamented with the letters W. G. 
in yellow. There was also a company called th'e Green- 
wood Rifles, with a uniform similar to the Cussawago Rifles. 
A company called the Liberty Guards, from Blooming Val- 
ley, mustered in numbers. Their members were expert 
with their rifles, their uniform hunting frocks and leggings 
well suited to the times and forest warfare. 

The Meadville Artillery, commanded l)y Capt. Samuel 
Doud, was a formidable array of twenty -five or more vet- 
erans, uniformed in gray coats and white pants. Their gun 
was a brass six-pound cannon, with a '^venf almost as 
capacious as the muzzle, rendering the feat of spiking it 
one of great difiiculty, unless a cannon ball was used. The 
company was very popular with young pioneer America of 
that day. 

But, oh! the gathering of the militia, or '^flood wood" 
as they were sometimes called. The ''Diamond" was the 
parade ground, and all that time it was a sea of dust, whose 
surface was as restless under the summer's wind as the 
ocean's waters in a storm. Promptly at 10 o'clock a. m. 
the citizen soldiers were called to arms. These arms usually 
consisted of old shot-guns, dilapidated nuiskets, rifles and 
bean poles. The line was formed three deep, and extended 
from end to end of the Public Scjuare. After a short prac- 
tice in the manual of arms the soldiers were put through a 
system of evolutions that nmst have been copied from a 
western cyclone. Tliis continued an hour or two, when 
the line was again formed and the inspection of arms took 
place. While the brigade inspector passed along in front 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. (Jl 

of the men, numerous bottles of liquid refreshments were 
surrepticiously passed from hand to hand in the rear, and 
when the final order, "Break ranks, dismissed," was given, 
a more happy and "inspirited" army of men never rallied 
under the flag of any nation. It was a day long to be 
remembered. And what citizen of our county who has 
almost reached the allotted period of human life does not 
recollect the relish with which we boys feasted on "general 
training days" on a quarter section of good old Jacob Fleury's 
ginger bread, washed down with that "nectar" fit for the 
gods — a bottle of small 1 )eer — and how anxiously we longed 
from month to month, from week to week, and finally from 
day to day, for a return of those, the happiest days of our 
boyish life, and how we sorrowed when a cruel, malicious 
Legislature, by one fell swoop, repealed the militia law and 
made us miserable forever. 

"Still o'er these scenes my memory wakes, 
And fondly broods with miser's care; 
Time but the impression deeper makes, 
As streams their channels deeper wear." 

Yes, general training days are no more. Long, long 
years ago those bright green oasis in the desert of life were 
covered with the drifting sands of passing events. Most 
of the men who then answered their country's call ' 'to arms" 
are no more, and it matters not how fantastic were the 
uniforms they wore, for 

"The clothes are hut the guinea's stamp, 
The man's the goud for a that." 

They were true soldiers in the best sense of the word, 
inured to hardship, brave, independent and patriotic. They 
were ever to be relied upon when danger threatened either 
their neishbors or the country. Kindly to each other and 



62 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

hospitable to strangers, they were honest and truthful, always 
to be trusted as friends and to be feared as foes. They were 
in fact the germs of a great people sown in the virgin forests 
of a new world, and from which has been propagated a 
great nation, whose institutions will eventually mould and 
model the future governments of the earth. 

A nobler race of men than the early pioneer soldiery of 
America never lived. Alone with the Creator in the sub- 
lime forest temple, they were naturally reverential and re- 
ligious. The evening prayer daily ascended from many a 
rude cabin in the wilderness, while the family Bible was 
read at every fireside. They prayed on the eve of battle, 
yet took good care to keep their powder dry. Theirs was 
faith with works, and the result is a nation of freemen, 
Christian people who acknowledge no supremacy on earth, 
and no sovereign but Him whose throne is on high. — Note,% 
A. B. Richmond. 




ALFRED sai;(;i-:nt 



CHAPTEK XII. 



PIONEER SKETCH OF ALFRED SARGENT. 




IDelivered on the S6th anniversary of Alfred Sargent, at Ashtabula, Ohio, by M. P 
Sargent, March 13th, 1889.] 

IHE SUBJECT of this occasion calls 
for something during a long period of 
time, running back in generations to 
the primitive days of the Pioneer of 
this country, and would admit of ex- 
tended and appropriate remarks, l)ut 
for that you will have to look to 
some one more capable than I. A 
brief statement with some incidents is 
all I shall attempt. 
Our paternal ancestor, Alfred Sargent, was born at 
Cincinnatus, Cortland County, N. Y., A. D. 1804. At the 
age of 14, A. D. 1818, he, with his parents and the rest of 
the family, emigrated to the Western Reserve, then called 
the Far West, and finally settled near the Conneaut Creek, 
on what is now called the Elijah Thomas place. Soon 
thereafter he and the family removed onto lands of the 
Huidekoper-HoUand patent in Spring township, Crawford 
County, Pa. , at which place, and in the immediate vicinity, 
he has since lived, except the last fourteen years. 

Alfred Sargent was married A. D. 1831 to Maria 
Phelps, with whom he lived forty-two years. She died at 
the age of sixty-four after a very busy and industrious life. 
She Avas the noble mother, housekeeper and seamstress, 



66 PIOXEER SKETCHES. 

plying the needle, with the use of the midnight oil, to make 
garments for the family, and to cut and make coats, vests 
and pants for hired men. It was wonderful how that 
mother worked to help along to raise her family and to aid 
in paying for and to clean up the lands. 

Too great a tribute we cannot pay to the Pioneer 
mothers of this country — 

She is gone, let her calmly repose 
From her hard labors herself best knows. 

Our paternal ancestors also had to prepare for the fray; 

To fell and to clear the trees away. 

To take, as it were, the bull right by the horn, 

That they might raise a few pecks of eight-rowed corn. 

The uplifted axe down through the roots into the ground. 
To cut away, that mother earth might there be found. 
To propagate the seed, did the Pioneer luvincibles 
Live and work, upon first principles. 

To this union seven children were born; three of 

tnem, Martin, Electa and Adelaide, are present; Cornelia, 

Elizabeth, Edwin and Leononia, got through the trials of 

this life at quite an early age, and have gone where no 

traveler returns. 

Yet onward marches the ever rolling tide. 
Its eternal mandates we must abide; 
Nor stop to gaze upon the moving throng, 
As we to the Golden Gates are marching on. 

Of this family there are represented here to-day two 
lines of three generations and one line of four generations, 
viz., Alfred Sargent, Electa and Frank, Paul, Addie, 
Willie and Ina Cheeseman, and Alfred Sargent, Martin, 
James, Dayton and Fred W. Sargent. 

Two brothers, Charles and Anson, and three sisters, 
Nancy, Polly and Betsy, accompanied him to this new 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 



157 



land, who in the course of nature, have passed from earth. 
Bets\-, the youngest, died of hnig fever soon after settling 
in this new country. Smallpox having come into the fam- 
ily, her mother knowing she had not been vaccinated for 
smalli)ox, took up her abode in a log cabin on the Flemino- 
lot, over a mile awtiy in the woods, for six weeks, with no 
one to bear her company except the L.deous nightly howl- 
ing of the wolves A messenger, however, was daily sent 
within hallowing distance to exchange a quarantine health 
report. This plucky veteran lady of ' the log cabin in the 
woods, Mary Sargent, was born at Oxford, Massachusetts, 
A. D. 1763, and lived to the age of 85 years. Captain 
Phineas Sargent, husband and father, than whom no 
stronger man, physically, in the country, was born at 
Wgrcester, Mass., A. D. 1765, and lived to the age of 86 
years. The other sisters and brothers, except Anson, lived 
to old age, from 75 to 83 years. 

To this new El Dorado others began to settle in: John 
and Oliver Woodard, Daniel Sturtevant and Harry Wells, 
later Wm. McCoy, Eri and Elijah Thomas, Porter Skeels, 
David, Albert and Isaac Hurd, Chris. Cross, Samuel Brain- 
€rd, Daniel Waters, John Curtis, Wm. Cornell, Chester 
Morley, George and Harry Nicholson, John Gillette, Obed 
Wells, John Vaughn, Wm. Tucker, Jesse Church, Watkin, 
Howell and David Powell, Thomas and Elisha Bowman, 
Luman and Elund Sturtevant, and others. The work of 
clearing up commenced in earnest. The hands of these 
sturdy pioneers made the primeval forest yield to the light 
of day, and a fair independence to be derived from future 
cultivated fields. 

"The music of the woodman's axe resounded throujjh the laud, 
But to make that music took muscle and a williu"- hand." 



gg PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Out of all that number of Pioneers you now can see 

Remaining on earth only three. 

Alfred Sargent, the youngest, is eighty-five, 

Few at that age are found vigorous and alive. 

The next is John Woodward- — ninety-two; 

People living at that age are very few. 

Isaac Hurd has scored the wondrous ninety-five. 

From all that number the oldest man alive; 

As these veterans pencil on the scroll of time, 

'Tis a long maik, beautiful, grand, sublime. 

The privations of the pioneer were numerous, notwith- 
standing all stages of life have their enjoyments and quaint 
incidents. 

Geo. Nicholson, a quaint old soul, had a small debt against 
Wm. Tucker, and accordingly he one day called on Mr. T. 
to collect the same. Grinning while lie turned around, 
Mr. Tucker discovered a piece of white muslin protruding 
from the seat of George's trousers and he exclaimed, ''Mr. 
Nicholson, yon have got a letter in the post-office. " "I know 
that," said George, "and if you will pay me what you owe 
me I can take it out." 

It took 25 cents to pay postage on a letter in those days 
and people had to resort to novel means to raise the neces- 
sary amount to pay postage on a single letter. 

Oliver Woodard saw no way out of the dilemma except 
to tackle a five-foot chestnut tree which took him all day to 
fell and gather three pecks of chestnuts to sell to pay postage 
on a letter. The sale of three pecks of chestnuts to-day 
would buy postage stamps to write him down the ages. 

Timber was cut and rolled into log heaps and burned 
into ashes and manufactured into black salts and hauled 20 
miles over corduroy roads to (^onneaut, Ohio, to get a few 
dollars to pay taxes and make payments on land purchase. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 69 

The rapacious wolf was rather an expensive Uixnry to 
the pioneer. Alfred and Anson Sargent had a flock of 
sheep, and on one cool, crisp night, the wolves with sharp- 
ened teeth and thirsty stomachs, came down upon them and 
sucked the life blood from the throats of 28 of the flock, 
which lay near the road on the little hillside near Porter 
Skeel's line. 

The people had to go on foot through the woods four 
to six miles to a salt well on the Crossingville Road, where 
salt was manufactured, and carry home on their backs half 
a bushel or more of the preciou« article. Daniel Sturte- 
vant, while doing this, got Ijelated one night. The wolves 
overtook him and he had to climb a tree. The wolves 
howled and gnawed away at the tree until near morning, 
when his neighbors rescued him from his cool and lofty 
perch. Daniel said could he have got a handfuU of his salt 
he would have sprinkled it on their tails and got them into 
a more fiiendly submission. 

Such and other like scenes tried men's souls, their lamb 
chops and their staying qualities. But the woodman's axe 
and the click of the trap and the hunters rifle in time swept 
the wolf from the land, except that wolf in shc^ep's clothing, 
who still hngers in the land, a living curse to generations 
yet unl)orn. 

The flax brake at the barn and the hum of the spinning 
wheel at the house were everywhere heard in the laud. 

The earliest pioneer of this county had to go to Pitts- 
burg to get his corn ground. Later, I have started many 
a time at 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning on horseback with 
a grist of corn or wli(?at to get in first at the old Jenks 
mill on Conneaut Creek, to get my grist ground. On sev- 



70 PIONEER SKETCEHS. 

eral occasions have had to wait all day. True, the nether 
mill stone would turn round, but so slow you could count 
each kernel of corn as into it dropped. 

At length the day of internal improvements began. 
The Erie & Pittsburg Canal was built, which brought joy 
and a home market to the people for many of the products 
of the country. 

The Lake Shore Railroad was built and astonished 
the later day inhabitants with awe and wonder. 

George Terrill, who had never seen a railroad, thought 
he would test its wonderful velocity, and accordingly he and 
his wife Nancy started one morning early from Springtown 
and went to North Springfield station, and there waited for 
the cars to take them on a visit to York State. After 
waiting long and growing impatient, he paced up and down 
the platform, with hands folded across his back under his 
swallow-tailcoat, and exclaimed "Mr. Railroad Agent, how 
lono- before will the railroad start?" "When the cars 
come, in about two hours," the agent replied. 

Next came the Telegi-aph, awakening a great sensation 
among the people, and the invincible old lady appeared on 
the scene, who exclaimed, "I'm so glad the telegraph has 
come; 111 go down to Vermont to see my sister now, who I 
haint seen for forty years. " 

A new era in most kinds of improvements throughout 
all the land sprung like magic into existence. Improve- 
ments most marvelous have been witnessed from centre to 
circumference all over the globe during the last half of a 
century. 

The power of steam, of skill and science, 
Stands to-day America's proud defiance. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 71 

Our paternal ancestor has lived to see the creation of 
all these scenes and improvements through a longer period 
of time than will perhaps any of us present. He has lived 
to cast a vote for John Quincy Adams, and at every Presi- 
dential election down to Benjamin Harrison. His political 
creed was that of a Henry Clay Whig and an Abraham 
Lincoln Republican. 

Unflinchingly he has firmly stood in those ranks, 
From the heat of the great Whig and Democratic 
Chaldrons, on the Missouri Compromise to date, 
Down to the boom of Harrison's thunder in 1888. 
AVe'll keep Okl England on her side of the ditch. 
And teach her how to twist her British lion's tail. 
And how to get up a more appropriate sail. 
For spoils and for low wages, 
Off into the dark ages, 
Of central Africa or farther India. 

In taking a retrospect of the political history of this 
country from 1798 to 1828, '30, '32, '40, '54 and 1860, 
he can congratulate himself with a feeling of loyalty and 
American patriotism, that he never voted for the men or 
measures who several times have sought for the dissolution 
and the destruction of this great country. 

Eighty-five years, a long period of time — over four score 
And you appear to be good for several years more. 
A grander sight to look upon we never can 
Than a well-preserved, aged woman or a man. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

ERIE CITY. 

RIE IS situated on the south bank of the beau- 
tiful bay of Presque Isle and was first settled 
or occupied by the Indians in centuries past. 
Of their origin we have but a meager record. 
But it is a characteristic of the Indian to settle 
upon the most favorable spots of the earth, 
on the shores of a bay or lake, or in some prolific valley 
on the l)ank of a river. And so it was here, on this beau- 
tiful site where Erie now stands, that Seth Reed, one of 
the Pioneers of Erie, so successfully and profitably treated 
the Indians to fire water, which was his first cargo (one bar- 
rel of whisky.) He hauled it from Buftalo, over the ice on 
Lake Eric, on a hand sled. It was his capital in trade, and 
with it hi! laid the foundation to his coUossal fortune. 

At this date Erie was sparsely settled by the white 
man. Among its first white settlers were Seth Reed, P. S. V. 
Hammot, French, Judah Colt and others. In the course of a 
few years emigration from the eastern states to this j)()int, 
(called the Far West) briskly set in and the shores along 
Lake Erie were soon dotted by the cabins of the white set- 
tlers. The primeval forest was hewn down, the majestic 
and the valuable oak, the chestnut, the po})lar and the ash, 
the walnut and the cherry, all alike went into the pioneer 
log roller's common pile to feed the thousand fires at night, 
only to illuminate the country and to make black salts from 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 73 

its ashes. Yet this valuable timber was considered a 
nuisance and must be cleared out of the way. 

This was taking the bull by the horn, 

That they might raise a few pecks of eight-rowed corn. 

In many places to-day these valuable trees would be 
worth five times as much as the ground on which they 
stood. The first thing essential however, with the pioneer 
settler, was to raise his bread, and when the timber was 
cleared ofi" he soon found himself in possession of an acre- 
age of grain and gi-ass fields, enabling him to raise horses 
and cattle. 

At that day Philadelphia was the market. The saga- 
cious Seth Reed, who by this time had accumulated consid- 
erable wealth in his fire water, fur, real estate and other 
commercial pursuits, was prepared to l)uy cattle, which 
w^ere cheap. On one occasion his son Charles was sent 
with a drove of cattle to the Philadelphia market and when 
over the Alleghenies he was informed Ijy a drover that the 
cattle market in Philadelphia was flat. Young Reed 
returned with his drove to Erie and reported he heard 
there was no market. His fathor turned him back with 
the enjoinder not to stop short of Philadelphia, which was 
done and he found a good market for the sale of his drove. 

Supplies of all sorts were mostly freighted in wagons 
from Pittsburg and Philadelphia. Years later the Erie 
Canal was built, which opened up a commerce lietween 
New York City and Bufijilo, and the gi'eat chain of lakes, 
and numerous vessels, particularly the white winged mes- 
sengers, soon dotted our lakes, and were followed by steam 
boats, which gave a new impulse and a lively Ijusiness to 
Presque Isle Bay, also Couneaut, Ashtabula, Fairport, 
Cleveland and to all the harbors along the chain of the 



74 PIOXEER SKETCHES. 

Great Lakes, affording at that time a great improvement 
in travel to the tourist. Yet the crack of the stage driver's 
whip an hundred times was heard on a trip of five miles 
from Erie to Willis"" Tavern. 

But the good old stage coach has gone from our laud; 
The flyiug crack of the whip froiu the driver's hand, 
As he flung out his hraid for a fly on the lead horse's ear, 
All for his amusement and his load of travelers. 

In 1840 the Erie & Pittsburg Canal was built, which 
greatly improved the business and the growth of Erie and 
opened up a market for many country commodities which 
hitherto had lain dormant. The building of this canal 
seemed to be a herculean task. The job through the 
quicksand at the Summit, Crawford county, it seemed, 
could only be accomplished by the plucky, invincible M. B. 
Lowry, who later was a conspicuous figure for the people 
in the Erie Railroad war, and will be long remembered by 
the people of Erie and Crawford counties, also in both 
houses of the Legislature at Harrisburg, Pa. 

In 1870 Erie established a Board of Trade. Its mem- 
bers went to work with a will and caused to be established 
many prominent manufactories, which doubled the city's 
population in ten years, and to-day Erie is a solid town of 
42,1:55 inhabitants. 

Near the north shore of Erie's beautiful bay lies sunk 
the trophies of Commodore Perry's victory on Lake Erie, 
the British fleet, Queen Charlotte and other vessels. This, 
as tlui reader is familiar, was at the battle near Put In Bay 
on Lake Erie, September 10th, 1812, the American fleet 
connnanded by Commodore Perry — the last brush with 
Great Britain and it will ])r()bably be the last one with her 
Majesty's Highness. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 75 

JUDAH COLT 

All incident is related of Judah Colt, when a young 
man and traveling through Herkimer County, New York. 
When near Praker's Bridge, he Avas stopped by Col. Praker, 
who said to the young man Colt that he must not travel on 
Sunday; that it was his duty to arrest him if he (Colt) at- 
tempted to pursue his journey. 

''Well,'' said Colt, -'If 1 have to stop, I must; l)ut I 
would like to get on three or four miles further to some 
friends, where I expect to stop, as I am about to be taken 
down with the smallpox, and I already feel symptoms of 
its coming on." 

"What!" said the old Dutchman, "you coming down 
mit de smallpox '. " 

"Yes." 

"Vail, den, you must not stop here." 

"Then you '11 have to give me a pass." 

"Yes; but I write no English. You shust write de pass 
in English and I signs it in German." 

Thereupon the material was produced and Colt wrote a 
check for one thousand dollars and Praker signed it. The 
next morning Colt presented the check at the bank, which 
was promptly paid, and then Colt resumed his journey 
onward to Erie, Pa. 

Some two or three weeks later Praker went to town, 
and the banker said, "Mr. Praker, we paid your check 
some days ago for $1,000." "My check for $1,000! 1 does 
not know about that." "Come in, it will show for itself." 
The check was produced, Praker scrutinized it and finally 

exclaimed, "I see, it be that d d Yankee smallpox 

pass!" 



76 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

At that day there were no telegraphs or raih'oads, and 
Colt was unmolested. 

And onward this Colt travels for Erie, 

Through forest, o'er hill, valley and stream , not weary. 

But this man Colt was a sharp undertaker, 

In playing his smallpox game with Dutch Praker. 

$1,000 was a big fortune at that day, 

$1.25 per acre for land to pay. 

Across the State line into Pennsylvania he crosses, 

At Erie he stops to raise young ColU and hosses. 

Large streams from little fountains flow, 
From this $1,000 rich Colt did grow. 
It has been said, and it must be so, 
That there are tricks in trades, you know. 




ERIE & PITTSBURG DOCKS. 




MASSASSAUGA POINT. WAYXE MONUMENT. WATER WORKS. 



CHAPTER XIV 



ERIE CITY. 

Its Early History and Subsequent Progress— 1626 to 1888. 

By Thomas II anion. 



RIE is situated on the site of the ancient 
Presque Ise Fort and French vilhige of 
the same name. Presque Isle was one 
of a chain of forts extending along the 
St. Lawrence and south shores of 
Lakes Ontario and Erie, and the Alle- 
gheny River from Quebec to Fort Du- 
Quesne (now Pittsl)urg) connecting the 
the French possessions in Canada with 
their territory on the Mississi])pi. 



PRE-HISTORIC REMAINS. 

Excavations in various parts of 
the county have unearthed the remains of a mammoth race 
of whom no history now exists except what is based apon 
mere conjecture. Human bones in large quantities have 
been unearthed on the line of the P. & E. R. R., through 
the Warfel Farm (one of which indicated a height of nine 
feet,) and on the corner of Twenty-sixth and Holland 
Streets, which is probably part of an ancient cemetery dis- 
covered in 1S20, south of Twenty-sixth Street, near Hol- 
land Street, and which created a sensation at that time. 




PIOXEER SKETCHES. 79 

111 excavating for the E. & P. R. R. line to tlic Harbor, 
a mass of Iiuman bones was found at tlie crossing of wliat 
was known as the "Green Garden Road,'' west of the city. 
The skulls were flattened and the foreheads were only about 
an inch in width, contrasting unfavorably with the remains 
found in other parts of Erie county. The bodies were in a 
sitting posture, but thrown together so promiscuously as to 
lead to the belief that they were the victims of some terri- 
ble battle, fought at a period so remote that not even a dim 
tradition of the event has been preserved. 

Curious mounds and circular embankments have been 
found in various parts of Erie county, many of which still 
survive the levelings of civilization. A mound opened at 
Manchester was found to contain decompose^l bones. One 
of these circles of raised earth above referred to may be 
seen at the Four Mile Creek southeast of the big curve of 
the P. & E. R. R., and another in Wayne township between 
Corry and Elgin, several feet in height, enclosing three 
acres, and surrounded by a trench. 

Similar circles and mounds exist now or did exist in 
Fairview, Girard, Conneaut, Springiield, LeBoeuf and Ven- 
ango townships. The formation and makeup of these land- 
marks leave no room for doubt that they are the work of 
human hands. A faint idea of their antiquity may be 
formed from the age of timber found growing upon them. 
A tree has been cut on one of the Conneaut embankments 
which had attained the age of 500 years. 

Our knowledge of the character, habits and aims of 
the North American Indians justifies the belief that the in- 
tellectual progress unfolded to our view l)y a study of the 
cold reality of the past is not to be credited to the Red Man. 



80 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Skeletons of extinct species of animals have also fre- 
quently ])een found in this vicinity. 

In 1825, Francis Carnahan, in Harborcreek township, 
on the shore of the lake, plowed up what upon competent 
archaeological investigation proved to be one of the cele- 
brated '"Chorean Beads."" known only as existing in ancient 
Egypt. Similar l^eads have ])een found in the toiiibs of the 
Nile. They were employed in worship and worn as amulets 
and constituted some of the most cherished possessions of 
ancient people of Pharaoh. A few of these beads are in the 
great museums of antiquity in Europe, and one in New 
York and one in Boston Museum. 

The last that is known of the one found here, it was in 
possession of L. G. Olmstead, LL.D., of Fort Edward, N.Y. 

If genuine, where did it come from, and what is its 
history % 

These and many other evidences of pre-historic develop- 
ment, w'hicli cannot be here enumerated or explained, seem 
to convince us that the Indians as w^e know them, or as our 
fathers knew them, were not the original possessors of the 
south shore of Lake Erie. This theory is strengthened by 
the imdisputed marks of a former civilization imprinted at 
various points in the United States and Canada. 

Every instinct of the mind impels the belief that these 
relics of the past, these telltales of antiquity, are the remains 
of a race of men, anterior and superior to the Indians, who 
disap})eared so completely and so mysteriously that neither 
history nor tradition furnishes a trace of their origin, their 
innnbers, their habits, their character or their destiny. 
Who they were, wdiere they came from, and what became 
of them, remains an unsolved pr()l)lem. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. ^\ 

OUTLINES OF EARLY HISTORY. 

The earliest history extant tinds Presque Isle in pos- 
session of a tribe of Indians known as the Ericz or Kah- 
Kwahs, and called by the French "the Neutral Nation." 
They seem to have been an intellectual race. The Eriez 
were visited l)y French missionaries in 1026, and in 1030 
by Joncarie, a French Indian agent. The Eriez were ex- 
terminated in battle about the year 1050 by the Iroquois, 
or Six Nations, of whom the Senecas were in possession of 
Presque Isle in 171:0, when the French and English com- 
menced their struggle for the acquisition of the territory. 
The French obtained the masterj^ and in 1753 sent out an 
army of 250 men, under command of Sieur Marin, from 
Montreal to Presque Isle, where they l)uilt and garrisoned 
a fort and established a base of supplies by means of a 
portage road to Fort LeBoeuf, (now Watcrford), and thence 
by French Creek to the Allegheny. At this time General 
DuQuesne, French commander at MontreJd, in a letter to 
the French minister in Paris, described Presque Isle as a 
"harbor which the largest vessels can enter loaded and be 
in perfect safety, the finest spot in nature a bark can safely 
enter." Presque Isle Fort and road, (which run south on 
the line of Parade Street), were completed August 3, 1753. 

The fort was 120 feet long, two stories high, with a 
log house in each corner, and gates at the north and south 
sides, and built of chestnut logs, on the west l)ank of Mill 
Creek, something over 100 yards fnmi its mouth, adjoining 
the ground now occupied by the Soldiers"' and Sailors' 
Home. The remains of this French fort, built in 1753, are 
described in an official report of Captain Denny, Com- 
mander at Fort LeBoeuf in 1795, as being a regular penta- 
gon, with parapet not exceeding five feet; that the stone 

6 



82 PIOXEER SKETCHES. 

walls of the magazine were then standing and could be suc- 
cessfully repaired, and the well made fit for use. 

The ruins of this fortification were plainly visible twen- 
ty-five years ago, and citizens of the city who played around 
there in ])oyhood and who are still young men, are able to 
identify from memory almost the exact location described 
in history. The stone foundations of this fort were removed 
in June, 1888, by Messrs. Paradine & McCarty, whose 
brick-yard is located near by; twenty musket barrels, bayo- 
nets, etc., were found in the north end. The foundation 
was three feet deep, and the original hard clay floor was 
covered with ashes under three feet of clay. 

There was at this period a French village of more than 
100 families, a grist mill, a Catholic priest and a school 
master, on the east bank of Mill Creek. They cleared land 
and cultivated cornfields. The village appears to have been 
abandoned after a few years' experiment, as it was not in 
existence in 1758. 

The abandonment of this village may be attributed to 
smallpox, which appeared there about 1756. 

In the year 1753 George Washington, then 21 years 
old, visited this section as a representative of the British 
Government for the purpose of formally notifying the 
French to discontinue the fortification of Presque Isle and 
LeBoeuf. St. Pierre, the French connnandcr at Fort 
LeBceuf, refused to comply Avith the notice, and Washington 
returned without visiting Presque Isle. 

In 1757-8 the British captured several forts and French 
supremacy Ix-gan to wane. In 1758 the garrison at Presque 
Isle had become reduced to two officers, thirty-two white 
soldiers and ten Indians. British success continued, Niag- 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 83 

ara had fallen, and the Freneh evacuated Presqiie Isle in 
1759. It was occupied by the British in 1760, who contin- 
ued to garrison it until 1763. 

THE PONTIAC CONSPIRACY. 

The Indians who had previously been allied with the 
French did not take lovingly to their change of masters, 
and while seemingly reconciled to English domination they 
conspired, under the leadership of the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, 
to overthrow British authority in the west. 

Pontiac's ''plan of campaign" against the British was 
while professing friendship to secretly form a union of all 
the tribes west of the Alleghenies, including the Six Nations, 
for concerted action. This he accomplished with remark- 
able skill. 

This combination was so vast, its ramifications were so 
extensive, and its mode of operations so practical as to cast 
in the shade all previous efforts at Indian warfare. 

In 1T63 they had planned and executed a simultaneous 
attack upon all frontier posts, capturing Presque Isle and 
eifflit of the twelve other forts held by the British. Ensiern 
Cristie commanded the British at Presque Isle, the garrison 
was surprised, the assault on the fortifications continued 
two days. The garrison surrendered June 22, 1763, after 
a heroic resistance. 

Parkman, the historian, says : ' 'There had been hot 
fighting before Presque Isle was taken ; could courage have 
saved it, it never would have fallen." The prisoners were 
sent to Detroit and soon after escaped. Some writers 
assert that the garrison was massacred and only two 
escaped, but this assertion is not borne out hy the most 
reliable historians on the subject. 



84 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

August 12, 1761, a British army of 3,000, returaing 
from Detroit, commanded Ijy Bradstreet, landed at Presque 
Isle in canoes and made a treaty with the Indians. 

From this time mitil the close of the Revolutionary 
War very little history was made at Presque Isle, and the 
"noble red men" roamed undisturbed along the shores of 
Lake Erie, the English control lieing merely nominal. 

By the treaty of 1783, England yielded to the United 
States all claims to the western country, but notwithstand- 
ing this fact Presque Isle continued to be garrisoned by the 
British in 1785 in violation of said treaty, and was so com- 
plained of by Mr. Adams, the American Minister at 
London, to the English Secretary of State. 

The British had won the confidence of the Indians and 
hoped through their aid and by retaining their western gar- 
risons to harass the infant republic and eventually regain 
possession of their lost territory. Presque Isle was consid- 
ered an important mihtary point and was the last fort west 
of Niagara to be evacuated by the British, 

The American occupation at Presque Isle commenced 
in 1785, but it was ten years later before their authority 
became supreme. 

The last reported Indian outrage^ at Presque Isle was 
the scalping of Ralph Rutledge and his son, May 29, 1795, 
at the present site of the Wilson House, which was then 
two miles from the setth^ment. Ral})h Rutledge was liuried 
near the place of his nnu'der, and the son was the first 
white mtm buried in Waterford. 

The ruins apparently of a brick fort were visible on 
on the east end of the Peninsula in 1 795. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. ;85 

The Peninsula was an island from 1833 to 1864. The 
breach at the neck was, in 1835, nearly a mile wide. 

Iron ore was mined for several years near the "Head," 
and extensively used in the furnaces of Vincent, Himrod 
&Co. 

THE TRIANGLE. 

The northern part of Erie county, including the city of 
Erie, has long ])een known as the triangle. The triangle, 
as such, came into existence in this way: The charter of 
New York detined its western boundary as extending south- 
erly on a line drawn from the western extremity of Lake 
Ontario to the 42d degree of north latitude or northern 
boundary of Pennsylvania. The point of intersection of 
these lines was supposed to be in Lake Erie, west of Presque 
Isle, thereby including this territory in the New York grant. 

This theory proved to be erroneous, the actual survey 
making the line run twenty miles east of Presque Isle, leav- 
ing a triangular tract west of New York and north of Penn- 
sylvania, to which neither State had the shadow of a title, 
being beyond their chartered jurisdiction, but each coveted 
the prize. Massachusetts and Connecticut also each claimed 
the triangle, under grants from Queen Anne, and it virtu- 
ally became a No Man's Land. New York, Massachusetts 
and Connecticut released their claims to the United States 
government, from which Pennsylvania purchased the trian- 
gle March 3, 171)2, for iB15 1,610. 29, being 75 cents per acre. 
The transfer was signed l)y George Washington, President, 
and Thomas Jefferson, Secretar})- of State. 

The Indian title was extinguished for a little less than 

$2,000. 



86 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

THE WESTERN RESERVE. 

Connecticut's original chartered rights embraced Eng- 
land's title to all the territory in the latitude of Connecticut 
and Massachusetts from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. 
The distance from ocean to ocean was at that time believed 
to be less than 1,000 miles. 

In releasing her title to the triangle, Connecticut 
reserved for her own benefit that northeastern part of Ohio, 
lying between Pennsylvania and Lake Erie, hence the name 
"Western Reserve." 

LAYING OUT THE TOWN. 

On April 8, 1792, the Legislature of Pennsylvania 
passed an Act providing for the laying out of a town at 
Presque Isle, and for a military force for frontier service. 
The project was vigorously opposed by the Indians, backed 
by British influence. The Indians in council assembled at 
Buftalo, July 4, 1791:, resolved to prevent by force the 
garrisoning of Presque Isle by the Americans. Anticipating 
resistance. General Knox, Secretary of War under Presi- 
dent Washington, directed a suspension of operations. 

The State authorities protested, insisting that their 
capacity was ample to preserve order at Presque Isle. 
Upon the advice of Cornplanter, the Seneca chief, the 
Indians withdrew their opposition. Another Act Avas 
passed in 1795, under which the town Avas laid out and 
received the name it now ])ears. In that year Captain 
Russell Bissell arrived with 200 men from Wayne's army. 
They erected two Ijlock houses that year and a saw mill in 
1796. 

General Anthony Wayne, the hero of Stony Point, 
died in one of these block houses December 15, 1796, and 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 87 

was, by his own request, buried under the flagstiifl', where 
his body remained until 1809, when it was exhumed by hivS 
son, Colonel Wayne, and Dr. Wallace, the General's physi- 
cian, and the bones removed to his former home near Phila- 
delphia. A portion of the remains were returned to the 
coffin in the original grave on Garrison Hill, where they 
remained until discovered by Dr. Germer, ten years ago, 
about 200 feet southwest of the present block house. Por- 
tions of the lid of the coffin were found, on which the follow- 
ing inscription appears, the letters being fonned with copper 
headed nails viz.: "A. W.— OB Dec. 15, 1Y96." Two 
case knives and a few bones were also found in the grave. 

The new l)lock house was built in 1880 as a monument 
to General Wayne, in order to fittingly mark the spot at 
which was closed his earthly career than which none was 
more l)rilliant in the annals of American history. 

Colonel Reed, great-grandfather of Hon. Charles M. 
Reed, arrived with his wife in a sail boat July 1, 1Y95. 
They camped on the Peninsula the first night. Their camp- 
fire was seen from the garrison, who, thinking it to have 
been lighted by an invading army, made preparations to 
resist an attack. 

Colonel Reed ))uilt a log house near the block houses. 
Other white settlers having arrived, a public house became 
a necessity. He converted his dwelling into a pul)lic house 
and hung out his shingle, "'Presque Isle Hotel." He erected 
a larger building the next year, moved to Walnut Creek, 
leaving his son Rufus S. to continue the business, which, 
un(k'r his al)lc management, soon expanded to gigantic pro- 
portions and included general merchandise, grist mills, trad- 
ing with the Indians, lake commerce, etc., etc. 



88 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

The first vessel built in Erie was the Washington, in 
1797. Immigration had set in, a little settlement was 
formed, supply depots were opened, wharves were con- 
structed, and business became active. 

The first newspaper in Erie was the Mwror^ published 
in 1808, by George Wyeth. 

Erie was incorporated as a town in 1805, as a borough 
in 1833, and as a city in 1851. The first council convened 
May 5, 1800. The limits, which were originally one mile 
square, were extended in 1831, in 1848, and again in 1870. 
Erie was governed by a burgess and one branch of council 
until 1851, since then 1)y a mayor, select and common 
councils. The plan of the city is excellent, the streets are 
wide, cutting each other at right angles, with very few 
exceptions, with public parks at convenient distances. 

THE WAR OF 1812-13. 

When war was declared with Great Britain in 1812, 
Erie ex})ected an invasion. Its citizens organized into a 
company of minute men, constructed and garrisoned a 
block house, which was still standing in 1853. In Erie 
Perry's fleet was l)uilt, with un})arallelod celerity, that won 
the battle of Lake Erie. From here the fleet sailed for 
action, and to Erie returned with the captured squadron of 
the enemy. 

The two l)lock houses and fortifications built in 1790 
were in ruins in 1813 when the block house of that year 
was erected. Another block house was built at Crystal 
Point the same year to defend tlK> entrance to the harbor. 

The Garrison Tract was the camping ground of the 
Pennsylvania militia in 1812-13. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 89 

• Here, in 1818, while the British fieet was drawn up in 
front of the harbor intent on destroying Perry's fleet, in 
course of construction at the foot of Sassafras and Cascade 
Streets, and at a time when ' 'Britannia ruled the waves" on 
ocean and lake, 2,500 soldiers were encamped on these 
grounds. They had cannon mounted, and such military 
display and military strength w^ere here developed as to 
forebode disaster, should an entrance to the harbor be at- 
tempted. The Britons, conscious that no picnic awaited 
them here, hoisted their top-sails and retreated to more con- 
genial waters. 

The subsequent events, the completion of Perry's fleet, 
with the Lawrence to lead; the l)attle of Lake Erie, the de- 
feat and surrender of the British fleet on the lakes, com- 
manded by Barclay, Avho fought with Nelson at Trafalgar ; 
the downfall of English supremacy on the inland waters of 
America; the triumphal ri'turn to Elrie, October 23, 1813, 
with the captured vessels and crews landing at the foot of 
French Street, amid the l)ooming of cannon and the wildest 
demonstrations of joy, with Perry the hero of the hour, — 
all these have passed into history as glorious as ever 
recorded. 

A full description of this battle would make interesting 
reading, l)ut it is too voluminous to l)e recounted here. 

The Lawrence Avas made the especial target of the 
enemy in battle. She was riddled and shattered, but still 
floating in triumph the eagles of victory which perched on 
her masthead, and Perry had won the victory which James 
Madison, then President, said had "• Never been surpassed 
in luster, however it may have been surpassed in magnitude." 

Of the American vessels that participated in this battle 
the Porcupine, Tigress and Scorpion were built at the mouth 



90 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

of Lee's Run, near Sassafras Street, and the Lawrence, 
Niagara arid Ariel at the present site of the E. & P. E. R. 
docks. 

The Lawrence brought the wounded of l)oth fleets to 
Erie — was subsequently sunk in Misery Bay. While there 
a large part of the vessel was cut into walking canes, and 
the remainder was raised in 18TG and taken to the Cen- 
tennial. 

The Ariel brought General Harrison and Commodores 
Perry and Barclay to Erie, the latter being a prisoner 
of war. 

The Niagara still lies sunk in Misery Bay, Erie 
Harbor.' 

In November, 1863, when the Michio-an was ffuardins: 
2,000 rebel prisoners on Johnson's Island, our citizens 
beeame alarmed at a threatening invasion fi'om Canada. 
Erie being named as the landing place, 000 troops, with a 
battery under the command of Major General Brooks, 
occupied the Garrison grounds, and with the aid of 1,000 
citizens had entrenchments thrown \\\) northeast of the 
present block house. 

SCRAPS OF HISTORY. 

At the 1 (('ginning of the century Erie was a hamlet at 
the mouth of Mill Creek, on the west side, Avith fortifica- 
tions on the east bank o})])()sitc the town. The only roads 
were Parade and East Sixth Streets. No other land outlet 
was accessil)le to the inhabitants. 

Erench Erie (Presque Isle) of 1753 with 500 inhabi- 
tants, was on the east bank of the creek, with the fortifica- 
tions on the west. Their relative locations had become 
exactly reversed when American occupation l)egan. 



PIONEER SKEICHES. 91 

Tlios. Recs, who w^^ the lirst justice of the peace and 
the first real estate agent in the township of Mead (now 
Erie and Crawford counties), had his oifice at the mouth of 
Mill Creek; and there in 1795 entertained the Duke de 
Chartres, who subsequently became Louis Phillippe, King 
of France. 

A vessel named the Sloop Washington, of thirty-tive 
tons, was built at the mouth of Four Mile Creek, in 1 797-8. 

It was Wayne's victory at the battle of "Fallen 
Timbers," on the Maumee River, in August, 1794, that 
crushed the spirit of the Indian tribes and rendered possible 
the settlement of Presque Isle Bay by white men. 

General Lafayette visited Erie in 1825; and on the 3d 
of June was royally entertained at a banquet spread on 
tables 170 feet in length on Secoixl Street bridge over the 
ravine between State and French Streets, covered by 
awnings made from British sails captured hy Perry, and 
under the supervision of John Dickson. Joseph M. Sterrett 
commanded the military who met Lafayette outside the 
incipient city. The speech of welcome was delivered at 
the house of Daniel Dobbins, wdio is a conspicuous figure 
in the history of Erie. 

The U. S. S. Michigan, the only w^ar vessel on the 
lakes, was built in sections at Pittsburg and brought to 
Erie, part of the w'ay in wagons. It was launched at Erie 
November 9th, 1843, and here its headquarters have Ijcen 
ever since. 

When the batteries on Sullivan's Island opened fire on 
Fort Sumter and the War of the Rebellion had l)egun, Erie 
responded by sending four regiments into action, and the 
record of the bravery, the sufiering, and the ultimate 



92 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

achievements of those heroic men will not suffer in compar- 
ison with any in the land. Their brilliant deeds give forth 
a lustre to gladden the memory and to assuage the grief of 
the dear ones at home, whose gi-eat bereavement is the price 
of the nation's glory and the emancipation of its slaves. 

The Garrison Grounds were laid out in 1794, "for the 
erection of forts, magazines, arsenals and dockyards. " Its 
peculiar shape is said to have been suggested by General 
Anthony Wayne. The writer was shown a mass of relics 
recently dug from these grounds, consisting of swords, gun 
barrels, cannon balls, flint locks, musket balls, military but- 
tons, jack-knives, a human skeleton, etc., and while cutting 
the terrace on the east bank of Garrison Hill, the remains 
of the old stockade were discovered. 

The first Court House erected in Erie was built in 1808, 
m the West Park. It was destroyed by fire, together with 
all its contents, March 23, 1823. It was rebuilt on same 
site in 1825. The liell which hung in the cupola of this 
Court House from 1825 to 1854 was a trophy of Avar, hav- 
ing belonged originally to the British shi}) Detroit, which 
was captured by Commodore Perry at the battle of Lake 
Erie. This bell is now at the rooms of the Y. M. C. A., 
corner Tenth and Poach Streets. 

A market house was erected in the West Park in 1814, 
and another in tlie thirties. The latter Avas torn down in 
186(), since which time the market has l)een hekl on theeast 
side of Stat(> Street. 

Erie Avas sup})lied Avith water through wooden logs fed 
by a spring, in 1841, Avhich continued to render valuable 
service until 1808, Avhen it Avas supplanted by the present 
magnificent system, furnishing an al)uiidant supply of water 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 93 

for all purposes at low rates, as well as affording a large 
annual revenue. 

A series of large wells, sunk at convenient distances 
along the streets, supplied Avater for fire purposes in the 
days of Erie's infancy. Traces of these wells still exist ; 
one at the corner of Sixth and French Streets, was used for 
drinking water up to a few years ago, and one which was 
closed only recently at Twenty-sixth Street, west of Peach. 

Erie became the county seat in 1800. The first court 
held in the county is said to have been held in the Buehler 
Hotel, corner Third and French Streets, which was subse- 
quently known as the "McConkey House." This building 
was also the headquarters of Commodore Perry during the 
building of his historic fleet in 1813. Other authorities 
claim that court was first held in a log building at corner 
of Second and Holland Streets in 1803. 

The present magnificent Court House was completed 
in 1855. Its front is modeled after the Parthenon at Athens 
so far as was consistent with its purpose. 

The man who cut the first tree for the construction of 
Perry's fleet, Captain Daniel Dobbins, well-known to our 
older citizens, was the same man who prepared General 
Wayne's remains for burial. 

The Garrison tract, now the Soldiers' and Sailors' 
Home, was the seat of war during all this period. Here 
events followed each other in rapid succession. The his- 
torical associations which cluster around this spot have 
never half been told. Here contended the then two most 
martial nations of the globe for the mastery of a continent. 
Here on this 00 acres has been created history (American 
French and English) suflicient to fill a large volume and 



94 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 



history, too, which would make interesting reading for the 
honored veterans who have made their home upon this 
famous battle-ground. 

The Erie Extension Canal was completed in 1844 and 
abandoned in 1872. The whistle of the locomotive was 
first heartl in Erie, January 9, 1852. 




n^ 



1 ta m '' 



SOLDIERS AND SAILORS INIONUMENT. 



CHAPTER XV. 



ALFRED KING. 

ALFRED KING, 
-T^ the third Mayor 
of Erie, was born in 
Waterf ord, Erie Co. , 
Pa., December 31st, 
1S21. He attended 
school at Waterford 
Academy, and grad- 
uated at the Eric 
Academy, after 
which he taught 
-chool for several 
years. In 1842 he 
was appointed Dep- 
uty P r o t h o n o t ary 
and Acting Clerk of 
the < /ourts, in which 
capacity he served 
six years. 

In 1851 he was elected County Treasurer and served a 
three years' term; served two consecutive terms as Mayor 
of the City of Erie, viz.: in 1853 and 1854, and served a 
three years' term as Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts; 
served three years as Deputy Collector of the port of Erie, 
Has served as Chief of Police for three years, from 1888 
to 1890. 




96 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Was married to Miss Mary Kennedy, of Livingstone 
County, N. Y., in 1845. 

Mr. King was extensively engaged in the brewing and 
malting business, during his business career, having built 
three large malt houses in Erie. Was at one time an 
extensive real estate dealer. Kingtown, Erie's eastern 
suburb, was named after him. 

He was peculiarly unfortunate in sustaining losses by 
fire. An extensive malt house on the canal, vStored to its 
fullest capacity with barley and malt, was destroyed by fire, 
and later a large new lager beer brewery on the corner of 
Twenty-sixth and Cheriy Streets was burned to the ground. 
He died March 19th, 1891. 



CHAPTER XVI. 




THE PIONEER SOLDIERY. 

OLLY WERE THE BOYS one 

fine morning, the fore part of 
May, 1830, before the break of 
day, when a volley l)y the mem- 
bers of the Hifle Company of 
Spring, Pa., was fired through the 
door of the old block house of 
Captain Phineas Sargent, as an 
eye-opener for the young Lieuten- 
ant, AKred Sargent, to get up and 
don his uniform for the wars. 
It was the custom in those days 
for nieml)ers of each Company to 

salute their ofiicers with a volley before daylight, to prepare 

for Training Day. 

The Beaver Rangers was the name of the company 
which was made up in Spring and Beaver ToAvnships, con- 
nected to the Powerstown (now Conneautville) Light Infan- 
try, the Sadsbury Rifles, GreeuAvood and Shenango Rifles 
which formed the Western Crawford County Volunteer 
Battalion. The first place they met for battalion or general 
training was at Billy CampbelFs, Avest of Conneaut Lake 
and subsequently at difl'erent places in the County at 
Brightstown, Evansburg, Powerstown, and Isaac Hunds' 
place — Spring. In this 1)attalion every man had to 
appear in full uniform and aa'cU equipped Avith rifle, cart- 

7 



98 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

ridge box, tomahawk, belt and powder horn. Chibs and 
sticks, with cow horns on the end, used by the militia, 
were not allowed, and every memljer was held sub- 
ject to a fine of $2.00 for being absent on training days 
without he had a reasonable excu.se, and the fine must be 
paid or the delinquent meml)er go to jail. This law not 
onl_y applied to the military, but to civil debt. One Potter 
would not pay his fine, whereupon a warrant was issued 
l)y Captain Sargent and served by Constable E. E. Hall. 
But Potter came down with the $2 rather than go to jail. 

Cases of this kind were few^; the mass of the people in 
those days were chivalrous, patriotic and true; the blood of 
their revolutionary sires coursed Hush in their veins, and it 
required no eloquent and patriotic speeches to arouse them 
to a sense of duty. 

The officers of the battalion w^ere (in part): John C. 
Thayrc, IShenango, lieutenant colonel ; Alfred Sargent, 
Spring, first major ; William Rankin, Sorrel Hill, second 
major; John McLean, Shcnango, adjutant; James Mc- 
Dowell, Sunmier Hill, quartermaster. 

Among the captains were: John B. Rice, Brightstown; 
William Pratt, Stephen Eighmy and John Nicholas, Spring; 
Theo, Powers, Powerstown. l^i(Hitenants : Hiram Ham- 
mond and Wm. Crozier, Powerstown; E. R. Hall, Spring. 

The law required the volunteers to meet three times 
yearly and the militia twice yearly for training. On gene- 
ral training days a big time Avas had. The inspiring nuisic 
by the band and the tranq) and stej) to the fife and drum, 
and when l)rought to a halt the exercises of the manual of 
arms were gone through with in a very creditable manner, 
with zeal and animation. 

The Legislature repealed the militia law in 1840. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 99 

The sires of this pioneer soldiery wouhl rehite their ex- 
perience at Lexington, Bunker Hill, Trenton and Valley 
Forge, when destitution, bare feet and rigid economy, 
played a great part in the fortunes of war in holding 
them back in the ranks. Ammunition was scarce, 
and General Putnam said, ''Don't lire until you see the 
white of their eyes ; then tire Iom' — take aim at their waist- 
bands. " 

A soldiery which had to resort to hurling stones and 
use the butt of their guns at the enemy, and then come out 
victorious, will maintain freedom of their country and pro- 
tect their families and live down all oppression. This w^e 
have seen manifested down to the War of 1812 on more 
than one occasion. While our country w^as still new, poor 
and unprepared for war, the same sturdy, independent, 
patriotic spirit prevailed, courting no smiles, asking no 
favors, heeding no frowns or thrust, nor threats from the 
enemy, as Johnny Bull became aware in his American tilt 
of 1812-13 on Lake Champlain, Lake Erie and elsewhere. 

An incident comes fresh to my mind in Ashtaljula 
Harbor, showing the strategy displayed by the few militia 
men, about one hundred in number. 

A British man-of-war stood a short distance out and 
they wanted to capture a couple hundred barrels of Ijeef 
which they knew to be stored in a warehouse near the 
mouth of the river. The few militia men there, with few 
guns and many more pitchforks and clul)s, marched through 
and around the Lake Side House on the point, making the 
enemy below think that there was ten times as large a force 
there as there actually was. The British fired a few shots, 
the cannon ball cutting ofi some limbs of the trees and 
some bricks of the chimney, and sailed away. 



100 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

From the days of the Revolution down to 1840 one- 
half never wore uniforms nor were properly armed. But 
such ancestral heroes as Generals Putnam and Allen had 
shown them that without the best equipments they could 
do effective fighting. 

Who gave Britain a worthy foe 

In war, that she might know 

That she could not monkey with our raw recruits, 

No more than with her game lion brutes. 

Then let us not be unmindful of the heroic deeds of 
the Pioneer militia and volunteer soldier of America, who, 
on several times, when their country was in peril, rescued 
her from the invading foe. And when the joyous notes of 
peace were sounded through the land he quietly returned 
to the plow, the counter of commerce, or to the jurist, leg- 
islative or congressional halls. Then behold our grand, 
vast America again teeming forth her busy millions, plod- 
ding again all the avenues of commercial life, and thus 
with the smallest defensive force or standing army o'er its 
vast domain of any other nation on the globe. 

Then let us revere the Pioneer soldier of America, who 
never flinched in time of emergency and whose acts and 
examples shine forth in the starry firmament to guide the 
living and unborn generations to similar deeds of humanity 
and freedom, the heritage of the Pioneer soldier of America. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE COUNTRY SCHOOL HOUSE. 



.^^n^^^1/7//a^: 




was called. 



HE DISTRICT SCHOOL of my boyhood 
days, in Spring Township, Crawford 
County, Pa., situated on the Albion and 
Conneautville road, and near to the bank 
of a small stream, is to me an historic 
spot. The Sturtevart School House, it 



There is no time like the old time, 

AVhen you and I were young; 
When the buds of April blossomed, 

And the birds of springtime sung. 

There is no place like the old place. 

Where you and I were born; 
Where first we lift our eyelids 

On the splendor of the morn. 

Well, our school house was built in 1830; a frame 
structure 22x28 feet, with a row of seats along each side 
six feet long, and one long seat across the back end, with 
some extra seats in the center near the stove to give each 
one a chance, by turn, to go up to the tire to warm their 
toes, on cold days when the thermometer was down to 
zero. The schoolmaster's desk and pulpit were located at 
the front end between the girls' and boys' doorway. And 
this primitive school house was to accommodate nincty-iive 
scholars. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. . 103 

We had lots of fun at that old school house. Our 
teacher, too, occasionally put us through a course of sprouts 
which was preferable to the hand ferril or the ruler. But, 
after all, we learned lots of Kirkoara and Dayboll. Why, 
Samuel Woodard sat right down in that old school house 
and ciphered right through Dayboll, then took up his alge- 
bra and geometry and never called on his teacher to work 
a problem. J. F. Woodard, J. C. Sturtevant, 8. Church, 
S. J. Thomas and others were not far behind in math- 
ematics. 

In attending to reading and spelling exercises we were 
brought up in line and toe the mark (a crack in the floor) 
sahite the teacher, by a l)ow, and proceed at the head of 
the class to read our piece in the English reader, which con- 
tained perhaps as many good pieces as any other reader smce 
published. The same tactics were used in spelling class, 
Cobb's spelling book, which contained a good many k's, 
pot hooks and diagraphs, so that one had to be pretty pert 
or you would misspell and have to drop down one peg to- 
ward the foot of the class. But we had a good number in 
that old school house who could spell any word for Mr. 
Cobb. Geography, why we used to sing right along 
through geography, viz. : Pennsylvania, Harrisburg; Ohio, 
Columbus; New York, Alljany; &c. We sang a tune — 

And to that tune each one had their key; 
Some got up in C, others up in G. 

Active, healthy sports were freely engaged in, with all 
the vigor of country lads ; also wrestling, jumpins: and 
cracking the whip, the latter line of sport as follows : Say 
fifteen or twenty boys would join hands, having some stout 
fellows about the middle of the train, and run several rods, 
and when nearing the bank tnrn quickly and throw olt' a 



104 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

half dozen at the end of the string over the bank into the 
snow drifts. This was called cracking the whip. 

"Sometimes you'd see a frightful face 
As he went flying forty feet through space 
Over the bank, away down he'd go, 
Out of sight, six feet under the snow." 

You could have seen at the old country house forty 
scholars nearly of an age and size, and forty more of the 
kid and deacon variety, up to those of the maid and matron. 
All seemed to take a common interest in the pursuit of 
learning and none were held back. If one could do his 
arithmetic in one term he was not held back for the slower 
nag, whom it required two terms to get there. 

SPELLING. 

Great interest was manifested in spelling, and one or 
two evenings each week diu'ing the winter term were de- 
voted to the spelling school, with good results. 

EXHIBITIONS, DECLAMATIONS. 

Having a good number in school who aspired to be a 
Patrick Henry, a Dan Webster or a Clay, and were anxious 
to give vent to their oratory, we accordingly enlarged 
and arranged the teacher's })ulpit into a stage and certain 
evenings set apart for the exhibition. We had there on the 
stage quite a variety, neighbor Derby and kScrapewell Hoch- 
enlinden, David and Goliath, and other heroes, orators and 
trajjedians. "When David with liis shng slew Goliath, at his 
fall the curtain dropped, and in order to change the awfully 
solemn sensation the two tiddlers who sat })erched up in the 
corner of the stage behind the curtain, at once jerked the 
vibrating sound from the melodious cat-gut and all went 
merry as a marriage l)ell, and soon the listener could hear 
that the vibration had c-au":ht onto the toe and heel of the 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 105 

good old people, the schoolmaster and the deacon, and all 
for the "spell" were keeping time to the bewitching notes 
of the fiddler's fiddle. 

In justice to these country students, however, 1 will 
state that more competent teachers went out from the Stur- 
tevant School District than from any other school district in 
Crawford county. They came from a hardy stock of New 
Englanders, and were created not only for piano thumpers 
and red tape manipulators, but they have mostly went 
out — 

Aud engaged in the arduous, active duties of life, 
Throughout this continent, mid a world of strife, 
And heroically have battled, some with great precision, 
And none of them have landed in a poor house or prison. 

The roll call was taken by the teacher at the close of 
each days' school, but as we call the roll to-day we find that 
many of our old school mates have crossed the silent river. 
Lucius Church, a bright, active young man, was killed by 
a grizzly bear in California. Wliile in company with Moses 
Church, plowing, his dog commenced barking in a chaparral 
near l)y; Lucius caught his gun, though remonstrated with 
by his companion, and started for the thicket. He fired, 
wounding the animal, l)ut was soon torn in pieces. Wil- 
liam Skeels, a very promising young man and an cxcelhint 
school teacher, was killed by the falling of a tree on his 
father's farm in Spring Township, Pa. 

George, Lucius, Lucy, Sall3% Mary and Marilla Tru- 
man; Betsy, Cornelia, Elizabeth, Leonoria and Edwin Sar- 
gent; Wm. Alderman, Johnson, Jacob and Augustus 
Thomas, Harmon Thonias, Sarah McCoy and Annie and 
Mandy McLaughlin are among the nund)er of old school 
mates who have })asscd from earth. 



10(3 PIOXEER SKETCHES. 

Retrospectively, as we irlance back to our boyhood 
school days, and note the number of school mates and 
other acquaintances who have stopped as it were on their 
journey while others are strupfcrlinG: forward through the 
rugged ways, trials and vicissitudes of the journey of life, 
there comes a beacon light, and the consolation — Rest. 

Life doth seem what we make it. 
Whatever way we please to take it. 



Ladies, says the Insurance Wo7'Id, (London), are begin- 
ning to obtain a foothold in the insurance world. One edits 
a French insurance paper, and another has recently been 
appointed manager of a Belgian insurance company. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 




RIPE AGE. 

• 

S EXTREME OLD AGE desirable? 
Most people will answer the question by 
saying, as a general thing, No; l)ut in my 
personal case, Yes. We rather think that 
seventy-live years are as much as the 
average man can use to advantage. In 
that time he sees nearly all that is worth 
seeing, runs through a large variety of 
experience, gets at last to resemble the 
double eagle that has been rubbed smooth 
by constant attrition and is ready to be thrown into the 
smelting pot of the mint and be recoined. History, how- 
ever, gives us some remarkal)le incidents of great achieve- 
ments in the afternoon of age. Chaucer didn't begin to 
write the "Canterbury Tales" until he was sixty, and at the 
same age Milton was hard at work on "Paradise Lost;" 
Homer, too, was on the edge of the sere and yellow leaf 
when he put the finishing touches to the Iliad. The man of 
sixty is just beginning to get his wits together and to pull 
himself into shape. His blood runs clear and cool as a 
mountain stream. His castles in the air have been swept 
away, and if he has any genius it has grown ripe and rich. 




CHAPTER XIX. 

THE WILD HOG CHASK. 

A ELY IN the winter of 1840 Hiram 
Griffin, of Elkcreek Township, Erie Co., 
Pa., very generously left out a field of 
com, for the l)irds, the wild turkey and 
the wild hog to feed upon, during that 
unpropitious time of the year. He found 
that ere long there would l)e no corn left for him to harvest. 
Hog tracks were daily seen, and terrible havoc made 
on the corn crop. Whereupon Chester Morley and Charles 
Sargent, noted nimrods, and others with guns and dogs 
went in pursuit of the wild boar and came in sight of him 
on the l)ank of the gully stream south of Albion. Dogs 
were set upon him and a lively chase ensued. After some 
time one of the biggest dogs, over confident, seized him. 
In an instant the boar, with his tusk, ripped his assailant 
from stem to stern, and on Avent the critter in his wild 
flijrht. The dogs did not seem to like that kind of medicine 
and were more timid. Toward evening the boar became 
somewhat fatigued. Finall}' a small white dog of Alfred 
Sargent's grappled him by the gamble and would chasee to 
the right and left to evade the tusks of the Ijoar. In a 
few moments Charles Sargent came up and shot him. 
His Satanic })orkship was conveyed to the house of Hiram 
(JrifHn to be dressed, and when the last rites Avere about to 
take place (in an equal division of th(^ game) Major 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 109 

Fleming, of Limdy's Lane, appeared on the scene, who 
claimed and demanded the prize, it having, he said, strayed 
from his premises the year before. Mr. Griffin claimed 
the hog was a wild one, that he had fed him from his corn 
field and that he had the best claims to his porkship. 
Others chipped in, saying, "that's so,'' and they had a 
lively, hazardous tilt, and a man's pantaloon-leg and a dog 
were ripped open. The matter was compromised, however, 
by giving to the Major one fore-quarter, and the balance 
was equally divided. The party arrived home about 9 
o'clock the same night, quite weary, with one man's panta- 
loon leg ripped open and their biggest dog slain upon the 
battle ground. 



CHAPTER XX. 



LOGGING SCENES. 



QURING tho period of time from 1815 up to 
the year 1850, it was a custom among the 
early settlers of Spring Township, Crawford 
County, Pa., to get together and log up 
a fallow of three to ten acres for each other. 
It required a yoke of oxen, driver and three men to log to 
advantage. The teamster could get the logs to the spot as 
fast, generally, as the log rollers could roll them into log 
heaps and pick up the numerous pieces of saplings, limbs 
and chunks found scattered about the fallow; consequently 
on many occasions of this kind there would be eight or ten 
yoke of cattle and twenty-five to thirty men engaged at log- 
ging at these logging ])ees, as they were called, at difterent 
times throughout the county. 

Acres of timber they had to log up in heaps together, 

To burn ofF before it came on rainy weather; 

Also to sow and drag in their Fall wheat, 

To raise for their families plenty of bread to eat. 

The time usually employed in logging was the latter 
part of August and during September. The timber was 
})retty well blackened, as the fire had previously swept over 
it in burning oti" the brush heaps, and the logger would 
soon get a coat of charcoal over his whole outfit and plenty 
in his gill and nostrils. But charcoal is healthy, and 
occasionally the ' 'jigger"" Avould Ijc passed around, which 
was then said to be healthy, too, to wet down the charcoal, 



112 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

and appeared in those days to be much freer of snakes and 
tanglefoot than it is now-a-days. 

The time engaged in these logging frolics, generally, 
was fi'om 1 to 6 P.M., and the hundred or more log heaps on 
fire at night, illumined the field in the darkest night so that 
one could pick up the scattering chips, play a game of old 
sledge or shoot a rabbit. And when the heaps were burned 
down the remaining brands were re-piled and burned to a 
finale. The ashes, in the earlier days, were made into 
black salts, and later hauled oft to an ashery and sold at ten 
cents per bushel, or scattered upon tlie unburnt places of 
the ground. 

While we contemplate that we are now paying two 
dollars per cord for IH-inch beech and maple stove wood, 
we are reminded of the millions of cords of timber in for- 
mer days that went up in smoke. Still, we console our- 
self with the fact that this is a Pioneer sketch. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



OBED WELLS. 



OBEl) WELLS was more than an ordinary 
man. He never done things by halves. He 
was one of the pioneer farmers of Spring, 
Pa. His Homestead Farm, comprising 400 
acres, laying along Conneaut Creek and upon both sides of 
the old Erie & Pittsl)nrg Canal, and three-fourths of a mile 
along the Conneautville Stage Road. Also a 150-acre farm 
known as the Flemming Lot, situate one mile east of his 
Homestead Farm. 

He built the largest farmhouse in town in his day 
LS35), the largest cellar, and he stored the largest lot of 
potatoes, apples and turnips therein of any other farmer in 
town. He also had the largest dairy, made the largest 
cheese ever made in town, had the largest lot of calves, 
lambs, and flocks of geese, turkeys, chickens and children. 

Mr. Wells was generous and enterprising, always on 
hand to do more than anyone else in his neighborhood in 
improvements and in educational matters pertaining to the 
common school. He visited our district school often, and 
would give the scholars a good lecture in his crude, yet 
sensible manner. He would spell with us, much to our 
amusement. Frequently, after spelling a syllal)lc or two 
of a word, he would stop and eye the teacher for an assent- 
ing or dissenting nod of right or wrong, creating an hilarity 
that he enjoyed as much as the scholars. 

8 



114 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

He was a large man, weighing about 250 or 260 
pounds, and when his great stomach revolted he was sick 
all over. On one occasion Elder Church called to see him, 
and inquired how he was feeling. Mr. Wells replied, ''Sick 
as h — 1, and not a drop of rum in the house, either." The 
elder replied that rum would not make a heaven; but Mr. 
Wells said he would take his chances if he had some. 

Mr. Wells was not an habitual rum drinker, Imt an 
outspoken man to all persons and on all occasions — to the 
honorable judge, the minister or to the wayfaring man — 
and if there were more sucb men there would be less 
dyspepsia and wrangling in the community. He was a 
man who possessed an excellent judgment and a kind 
regard for the poor and unfortunate. His contributions to 
the widow, the sick or the unfortunate generally were live 
times greater than those of the average citizen. Therefore, 
he was an important, useful factor in his neighborhood. 
He gave to the Sturtevant School District an acre of land 
as long as should be wanted for school purposes, on which 
to erect that old country school house herein mentioned, 
which was situated on the Albion and Conneautville 
road, on Mr. Wells' land, a portion of his 100-acrc meadow 
field, which site extended over the bank, where down they 
do go out of sight, three feet under the snow, in our exer- 
cises, cracking the whip, etc. This sport he seemed to 
equally enjoy with us. 

Late in the fall, just before the close of navigation on 
the Erie & Pittsburg Canal, you could notice a canal boat 
moored on his premises about ten rods in front of his 
residence, loading aboard cheese, beef, pork, potatoes and 
poultry for the Pittsburg market. There lacing no rail- 
roads at that time in Northwestern Pennsvlvania to Pitts- 



PION^EEK SKETCHES. II5 

burg, Mr. Wells preferred to take passage on board of the 
canal boat, 1 20 miles, than via the stage coach, intendino- 
from the start to thereby take his time, and also to have a 
good time on his journey. 

When his cargo (which was a good share of the boat's 
load) arrived at Pittsburg it was well sold, in exchange for 
which he received cash, sacks of coffee, chests of tea, 
barrels of fish, casks of sugar, molasses, and perhaps a 
little blackstrap to mix Avith the 'lasses, as he didn't do 
things by halves. 

Cargo sold, he would proceed to look over the fresh 
imports of Dutch from De Faderland on the market for 
hire, where he soon found the requisite number, a half 
dozen, who, wath his goods, he shipped to Spring, to his 
farm, where he had fifty-six cows to milk and in the sprino-. 
time as many calves to feed, making no allowance for 
twins, which occasionally came to the fertile premises of 
Mr. Wells. 

These Dutchmen safely domiciled on his farm, whose 
dialect the young ideal could understand about as well as a 
horse could geometry, proceeded to be initiated into the art 
of milking the cows. In this art the experience of some 
of these Teutons had only extended to milking goats in 
Dutchland. "But this milking scene is to commence." 
The Dutchman seats himself beside the nol)le cow with a 
full udder anxious to l)o relieved of a pailfull or more of 
the lacteal fluid, and quietly she submits to the manipula^ 
tions of the stranger. She soon becomes aware that her 
manipulator is un-American and a novice, but quietly she 
forbears, still anxious to be relieved. The Dutchman is 
first given an easy milker and as he presses his hand around 
the large, full teat the milk is as liable to squirt onto the 




MILKING SCENE. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. \Yl 

ground, stable floor or onto his boots as into the milk pail. 
The eye of his employer soon discovers this and he exclaims, 
"■Fritz, can't you steer straight enough to hit a sixteen- 
quart milk pail?" The Dutchman can't understand what 
was said to him in plain English, but knew by its tone 
somethino; was ""oino; wrong. He therefore sort of hustles 
himself and during the momentary excitement he pinches 
the cows teat, whereupon she lifts her hind foot, same as to 
say "that it'll never do." Finally the milker becomes more 
composed and settles down to business and the milk is flying 
in every direction, onto his pants and the floor around is as 
white as a march frost. "I say, Fritz, you must steer 
straighter than that," and poor Fritz is determined to do 
better this time and pressed closely, his finger nails cutting 
the cow's teat. Quickly came up her hind foot and the 
Dutchman went roUing around the floor, exclaiming, "Mine 
Got! Mine Got! Mr. Wells!" 

Mr. Wells appears on the scene laughing, and views 
the situation. There were no Ijoncs broken, but some milk 
lost by the impatience of his best cow and a scared Dutch- 
man, who soon came to, and, according to the characteris- 
tics of the Teuton, he persevered and in time l^ecame a 
good milker, a good cheese maker, and could get away 
with as much Dutch cheese, bologna, cider and saurkraut 
as the next one. 

Durino; the initiation of this foreigner Mr. Wells could 
console himself with the thought that his services, while 
learning to milk and undergoing this and other subsequent 
somersaults, cost him during such scenes only at the rate of 
$4.00 per month. Subsequently their wages were raised 
according to the usefulness and the calibre of the Dutchman. 



118 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

There was a large amount of haying to be done on the 
Wells fann, and later in the season hundreds of bushels of 
potatoes and turnips to be harvested, and the other farmers 
in the neighborhood would get their harvesting done several 
weeks earlier than would Mr, Wells, and us youngsters 
could have an opportunity to go and help Mr. Wells to 
finish up and thereby earn a few dollars cash to buy an extra 
hat or suit, or cjo to the coming circus with our oAvn funds 
for pocket change. Therefore on one bright morning at 
6:30, the loth day of August, 184Y, Kit. Sturdevant, Bob 
McCoy, Alfred Sargent and the writer were on hand at the 
100-acre meadow, where were standing about fifty acres of 
grass. Mr. Wells' hands met us there— all with scythes to 
mow down the gi-ass. A couple of Dutchmen were among 
the mowers, and when mowing near the big spring south of 
the school house one of the Dutchmen jumped aside, flung 
down his scythe, grabbing himself around his cotton pants 
(overalls) at the ankle, and much excited yelled out : — 
"Snake ! a snake ! ! " One of the party caught hold of his 
hands that the snake could drop down his pant leg, as it 
■was confined there by the hands of the Dutchman, where- 
upon a bull frog slid down the Dutchman's leg and leaped 
forty feet away, and then kept on leaping, apparently more 
frightened than the Dutchman, whofairlv shivered. "Cold, 
cold,'' he said. Yes, no doubt that frog felt as cool and 
slippery up that fellow's leg as would a chunk of greased 
ice. 

The poor l)ullfrog, from discoveries he had made 

While u]) that Dutchman's trouser leg, 

Quickly made a frightful leap, 

Forty feet into a bullrush heap. 



120 PIONEER SKETCFIES. 

On the flats of Conneaut Creek great crops of potatoes 
and turnips were raised. The potatoes were of the white 
and bhie pinkeye varieties which come out of that rich, 
loamy, virgin soil, as clean as if they had been washed, and 
a most remarkable yield, as high as four hundred bushels to 
the acre. 

Flat turnips yielded enormously. Mr. Wells gave 
notice to a lot of us boys to come on and help pull turnips. 
In a pleasant spell of weather in November, 1844, some 
fifteen or twenty were on hand for the pulling match. Mr. 
Wells and son Shepard w^n-e present and the work of pull- 
ing turnips commenced, and at 1 o'clock P. M. the fertile 
brain of Mr. W. concocted a scheme by which he was to 
get more turnips pulled, viz.: He and his son Shepard took 
their positions side by side and said they would choose sides 
for a pulling match. They proceeded to choose, and 
would look about among the boys as earnestly as at a 
spelling school match, or at picking out a prospective porker 
from a whole litter of pigs. 

Sides chosen, an equal number of rods of ground were 
measured off, and the two contesting sides pitched in to see 
which side could get his patch of turnips pulled first. Could 
you have been there and seen those turnips fly — 

Like a storm of hail, 
Through the air they'd sail; 
The contest deepens — on ye brave 
Will, Jim, Mart and Dave. 

And were you to search this country round, 
A bigger lot of turuips could not be found; 
So sleek and fair, and so round, 
Than lay there at night upon tlu^ ground. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 121 

Many other scenes and incidents we might mention, 
but time and space forbid. 

Anthony Obed Wells is no more among us here, 
For his good deeds his memory we will revere, 
For his departed soul we can only say 
He was not surpassed in that former day 
In working boys or raising calves, 
And he never done it by the halves. 



CHAPTER XXII. 




THE BOUNDING HART, 

ROM the year 1820 up to 1S45, in the toAvn- 
ships of Spring and Beaver, Crawford Coun- 
ty, Pa., wild game, especially the deer, was 
plenty. Charles Sargent and Chester Morley 
were two of the great hunters in those days, 
and many a time have they penetrated the 
forest on Monday morning and during the 
week come in with a half dozen deer, wild 
turkey and other game. To see these grand, innocent look- 
ing animals lying side by side seemed to me rather cruel 
sport. 

Grand are the antlers of the bounding hart, 
Majestically he bears them on the alert. 
He would rather sliuu you than to fight, 
But to see him use his antlers is a novel sight. 

This grand animal has been destined to a steady but 
sure extinction from our forest, like the buffalo from the 
plains. The expert nimrod has mercilessly been upon his 
track until it is high time for a halt. 

English gentlemen protect and propagate the deer in 
their parks, which would be a good example for Americnas 
to follow to replace and replenish the land with equally as 
fine an animal as the lamb. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

DANIEL STURTEVANT. 

> ^^^^\ AXIEL STURTEVANT was a man of more 

^ M than ordinary sagacity and energy. He was 

^ W born in Cortland County, N. Y., and emi- 

'^^^m.^ grated to Spring, Crawford County, with 

his parents at quite an early age. Shortly thereafter he 

engaged to work on a farm for a term of years for Obed 

Wells. For his services he got 50 acres of land which, 

when paid for, he commenced to improve. He married a 

Miss Susan Hall, of Spring, who w^as a healthy and vigorous 

lady, proving a great helpmate to him through life. Mr. 

Sturtevant soon became enabled to buy additions to his 

land and soon found himself the possessor of a 150-acre 

farm, which in a few years was mostly cleared up, affording 

him a pasturage for raising stock, which vocation he 

managed with considerable skill. 

Mr. Sturtevant was a hard worker and an early rrser. 
He used to like to hear the song of the morning warbler. 
He enjoyed a hearty laugh and a good joke, and one did 
not need to be in his company long before he got a few of 
them. 

It was notable in him to take the lead in planting and 
harvesting his crops. Then he would be out buying sheep, 
calves, yearlings, two, three and four-year-old steers, which 
he would hold a while and let some other fellow have them 
at a pretty good advance on cost. He would generally 



124 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

make two or three trades to the average farmer's one. He 
worked on business principles, and when he could not drive 
a trade did not stop to parley and l^anter. Few words 
spoken and off again with a good day and hearty laugh. 
His place became the headquarters of an old Philadelphia 
Quaker and his two sons, cattle drovers, who every summer 
for years, made their appearance, and Mr. Sturtevant had 
the inside track with these friendl}' cattle buyers as he 
could take them where they could l)uy a sheep, a fat steer, 
a dry cow, a milker or a springer, and also convince the 
Quakers that he could give them a good bargain on the 
various kinds of stock he had in store upon his premises. 
Well, the Quaker must have thought so, too, for a clean 
sale was generally made of the stock on the farm in the 
roundup of the drove preparatory to starting for over the 
AUeghenies to Philadelphia, and a young Sturtevant gen- 
erally went along to aid the Quaker and his two shepherd 
dogs in driving the drove and prevent them when on Laurel 
Hill from nipping the poison laurel Inids to inflame the 
gastric juices and the modus operandi of the creature. All 
in all, from start to finish, Mr. Sturtevant received a pretty 
good thing at the hands of the Quaker for his being an 
early riser, a prompt, reliable, active man, a good cattle 
buyer, a hearty laugher, a good joker and a man who 
could entertain a Quaker drover. 

Mr. Sturtevant met with an accident, a cut on the 
knee-pan with a drawing-knife, and he took cold in the 
wound, having a long and painful illness, and months 
afterward with a stiff leg, while seated on a milking stool, 
the cow stepped upon his leg and l)roke it. For years after- 
ward he labored but this trouble probably hastened his 
death, and when at al)out sixty years of age he died, 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 125 

leaving considerable property and an example of industry, 
energy and fiTigality. 

And a hearty, good will 

Which runs in the family still, 

To cheer them on with good endeavor. 

To stem the storm, or adverse weather. 

My memory goes back to others, and doth cling, 
To those sterling pioneers of Spring; 
But my space will not allow 
Of them to say but little now. 

Among these veterans were : John Woodard, Wm. 
McCoy, Elijah and Eri Thomas, Eev. Jesse Church, 
Henry McLaughlin, John Vaughn, Wm. Tucker, Lyman 
and Arch Jenks; Howell Watkin, David, Edward and 
James Powell, Isaac, David and Albert Hurd, Lyman, 
Ealand, Timothy and Asa Sturtevant, Elisha and Thomas 
Bowman, Porter Skeels, Geo, Nicholson, Wm. Cornell, 
John Curtis, Chester ]Morley, Ira Locke, Charles and Anson 
Sargent and others, who were all good soldiers in their day, 
all of whom contributed their might in making Spring 
Township blossom like the rose and who, every man of 
them, done his part well to clear up and replenish the land. 

Nearly all of whom are gone 
Onward to their happy home. 

A similar line of Pioneers settled throughout Spring 
Township and Crawford County, of whom are: Harry 
Pond, Hiram Butler, Hawdey Dauchy, the Halls, Sheldons, 
AndrcAv Christy, Geo. and Robert Foster, John and James 
Ford, Fred Williams, Mr. Powers, Wm, Powers, J. E. 
Patton, and many others about Conneautville and Northern 
Crawford. In Southern Crawford and in Mercer and 
Venango Counties there was something more of a mixture 
of the German and Hibernian stock. Many of these 



126 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

pioneers settled upon their lands at an earlier date than 
the pioneers of Spring and many of them became wealthy 
and thrifty farmers. But there is not a township in the 
State, of the same age, that surpasses Spring in culture, 
general improvement and wealth. The reason is obvious 
and easily explained. Fifty years ago there was not a 
wealthy man in town, and during these 3-ears no windfall 
of colossal wealth having dropped into the lap of its citi- 
zens, they have hewn out and paddled their own canoes — 

Many of whom landed on safe ground, 

Where, now they, or their descendants, may be found, 

Generally engaged, in tilling the soil. 

Which has proved renumerative for their toil. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

ERI THOMAS. 

eRI THOMAS was one of the early settlers 
of Spring, Pa. His father, Jacob Thomas, 
emigrated to West Springfield in 1800 and 
settled upon lands afterward called Zacks- 
ville and raised a large family. 

The subject of this sketch, Eri, was the second son, 
and settled upon 100 acres of land about one-half mile 
north of Shadeland in 1818, and moved on to said land 
amid the forest, and, like other stalwart pioneers, cut his 
way through from the forest to the wheat-field, the orchard, 
the meadow and the pasture, well stocked in due time. 
This place, now occupied by W. G. Thomas, aflbrds one of 
the finest views of Spring Valley, of Western Crawford 
county. Situated, like Shadeland, upon the beautiful east- 
em slope of the valley, the eye can behold ol)jects far to 
the westward across the valley; aflbrding, also, a sweeping 
view northward and southward. 

Yet upon these spots of earth, as beautiful as ever 
"Old Sol" shone upon, during the days of those good old- 
fashioned winters the ''beautiful snow,'" set in motion by 
the western breezes, was sifted over the fences into the 
road in a superfluous manner, when men and l)oys, with 
shovels and ox-teams, turned out to shovel and Ijreak their 
way through the snow drifts that the traveler might get 
through to Spring Corners or Albion. JMany a time the 



128 PIONEER SKE TCHES. 

writer, with other schoohnates, has tusseled with those 
snow drifts on that historic spot near the old Sturtevant 
school-house, where the snow-drifts would remain through 
many pleasant, warm days in the spring; and many a 
bucketful was gathered on which to drop our hot maple 
'lasses to make a good gob of maple wax. Delicious! 
Good enough for ye gods! 

At those sugar parties their lips would smack 
In working a gob of maple wax. 
Talk about something nice and sweet, 
But that maple wax never was beat! 

I well recollect a characteristic incident of Eri Thomas. 
In March, 1840, Ithael Young called at the house of 
Alfred Sargent, and while there Mr. Thomas drove up 
with his horse and sleigh and came in. The snow was 
about a foot deep, and it vvas thawing — the snow was wet. 
Mr. T. discovered that the boots Mr. Young wore were 
open at the toes and sides and his stocking plainly visible. 
Said he to Mr. Young: ''I think you are jeopardizing 
your health in this deep, wet snow in wearing such boots. 
Why don't you get a pair of new ones V Mr. Young said 
he hadn't the price at the time, whereupon Mr. Thomas 
promptly exhibited the boots he wore and said: "I will 
sell you these; what will you give for them?" "Ten 
pounds of maple sugar, the first sugar I make." "It's a 
bargain," said Thomas, "for I don't want to see you going 
around with your feet sopping wet at this time of the 
year." Mr. Thomas pulled ofl' his boots and told Young 
to put them on, which he did, and laughingly said: "How 
are you going to get home, Thomas, bare-footed?" "Never 
mind me," said Thomas. And Avhen he was ready to start 
for home the wi'iter got a twelve-foot board and placed one 
end on his cutter and the other end on the door-step, when 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 129 

Mr. Thomas walked into his sleigh, wrapped his feet up in 
his robes and drove home to put on his other pair of boots, 

Mr. Thomas was much interested in the district school, 
and would give the teacher as well as the scholar a whole- 
some lecture when he thought they required it. On one 
occasion pur school master, Rusk Cole, whipped a young 
man, a son of Mr. Thomas, who heard of the affair while 
he was engaged in his slaughter house renderino; tallow. 
Mr, Thomas started for the school house with hands 
smeared with tallow and walked into the school room 
and said to the teacher, "You have abused my boy, 
wliipped him beyond reason ; you ought to be Avhipped 
and turned out of school, and if the Trustees don't turn 
3'ou out I will put you out."' This declaration had a 
salutary effect on the school master, and the beech gad 
was not used so much the remainder of the term. 

Beech gads were as common in those days in the school 
room as firewood, and if the average school master had put 
forth as much effort in cultivating his brain as he did in 
using the gad he would have accomplished more as a school 
teacher. 

Mr. Thomas was quits benevolent and kind hearted to 
children and to poor people. A widow lady called on him 
for some apples. He said to the lady "-Come on with a 
team and get all that you want, free of charge." Soon 
thereafter the lady came with a team and got all the apples 
she desired. Then said she, "this is my brother's team and 
little boy; will you give some apples to pay him for haul- 
ing T' "No," said Mr. Thomas, "if your brother can't 
furnish a kid and a yoke of antiquated stags to haul some 
apples for his sister it's a pity." What portion of the 
widow's apples went to pay for the use of the team is a mat- 
ter of family history and brotherly love. 
9 



CHAPTER XXV. 



EARLY SETTLERS. 




MONG the earliest settlers of Spring and 
Western Crawford Avere a Mr. Flemming, 
who settled upon the place still known as the 
Flemming lot, and who made a clearing of 
50 acres of land ; a Mr. Jackson settled on the adjoining 
tract north ; Mr. Kennedy, on the tract of land north of 
the Jackson lot. 

These pioneers settled upon their respective tracts in 
1795, whose improvements aided the subsequent settlers of 
that vicinity very much, especially the Flemming lot. 
These settlers left their places. Their lands reverted back 
to Huidekoper, of whom they were originally purchased. 

Mr. McKee, a pioneer w^ho settled upon the place sub- 
sequently owned and occupied by Watkin Powell, a portion 
of the now Shadeland estate, grandfather of the Powell 
Brothers, stockmen. This man McKce and his son cut the 
hay upon the Flemming lot. Wolves Avere plenty. The 
latter part of July, 1797, the McKees were haying on 
the Flemming lot, and while on their way to work one morn- 
ing, with scythes in hand, young McKoe thought he would 
go to his trap, which he had set for bear and wolf near the 
line of the Flemming and Jackson lots. On arriving at the 
spot he found a wolf in his trap. Having no firearms he 
concluded to dispatch the wolf with his scythe, and accord- 
ingly stru(^k for his neck. He struck too high, cutting off 
his cars and seal}), which so infuriated the animal that he 




M KEE AND THE WOLF. 



132 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

made a desperate lunge at McKee, loosening the clog of the 
trap. The brute seized him by the arm and he could not 
extricate it fi-om the jaws of the wolf. He shouted to his 
father, who came to his rescue and killed the wolf with a 
club. Young McKee's arm was badly chewed up, which 
took him six months to recover the use of. 

Other early settlers were Messrs. Orr and Fords. The 
former settled on the site where Springboro now stands; 
the latter on what is known as the old Elisha Bowman 
place, near Shadeland. One Thomas Ford, however, set- 
tled and built his cabin so as to cover one corner of four 
different tracts of land, with the grasping idea of holding 
all four tracts. It was decided that he could not pre-empt 
but one tract of 400 acres of land instead of 1,600, and 
therefore that place, situate on the tract corners of the old 
Obed Wells, Charles Sargent and Barnes tracts of land, 
was, and is to this day, called "Ford's Folly;'' also John 
Foster, who settled on the place now occupied by Richard 
Bolard. After the year ISOO, and previous to the war of 
1812, were James and Samuel Patterson, who settled in the 
eastern part of Spring. While they were at Erie defend- 
ing their country fi'om a threatened invasion by the British 
in 1812, when every man rushed to arms, the Pattersons' 
wheat crop ripened. Their heroic wives, with sickles, cut 
and harvested the wheat; and they found they must have 
flour to make bread, whereupon they spread down blankets 
upon the ground for their threshing floor and the canopy 
of heaven for a barn roof, and with flail in hand they 
threshed out a grist of wheat; then with a sheet and screen 
cleaned the chaff from the wheat, ready for grinding. 
They then sent the boys on horseback through the woods, 
by blazed trees, fifteen miles to a grist-mill at Venango, on 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 133 

French Creek. And when the boys, with their o;rist of 
flour, had arrived within one-half mile of home the flour 
bag caught a snag on a tree, tearing it open. The horse 
jumped and threw ofl" the boys; the grist of flour was scat- 
tered through the woods, and only two quarts of flour was 
left of this grist when the horse reached home. The plucky 
Mrs. Pattersons had to sit down and take a good cry over 
their hard fortune preparatory to trying the same job over 
again to get material to make bread for their families while 
their husbands were ofl' to war. 

The first three frame houses in Pow^erstown, Spring 
township, were built and occupied by Alexander Power and 
William Crozier. 

An incident, showing the fraternal spirit of the early 
settlers, in a later day, about 1835. Robert Foster, son of 
the pioneer John Foster, started out one morning in No- 
vember with his rifle to hunt deer. He did not return that 
night and a search was made the next day without any 
trace of the lost man. The people throughout the town- 
ship were notified, who all turned out. The next morning 
100 men formed in line and swept the forest in search of 
the lost man. After marching through the forest al)out 
two miles they turned about to the left flank, and when 
within a half mile of his father's house thoy found the 
young man lying dead upon the ground with his gun at his 
side, death being occasioned by a fit or heart trouble. And 
at the proper time these people turned out generally to per- 
form the last l)\u'ial rites. When one of their number was 
burned out by fire they joined together and helped to re- 
build his home or barn. When a pioneer was injured by 
accident or prostrated by sickness they were his insurance 
company, and would turn out and do up his harvesting or 
any other work that the unfortunate man was unable to do. 
The}^ were friends to be relied u})on in times of peace, and 
foes to be feared by an enemy in time of war. 




CHAPTER XXVI. 

M. P. SARGENT. 
ANCESTRY^BIRTH— CHILDHOOD. 

Y FAMILY is American in all its l^ranches. 
My great grandfather was born and lived 
in Massachusetts. His son, Phineas Sar- 
gent, my grandfather, was born in Worces- 
ter, Massachusetts, in 1705; married Mary 
Kingsbury, who was born in Oxford in 1763. A short 
time after their marriage they removed to Cortland County, 
New York, where they lived until 1814, when they and 
family removed to Spring, Crawford County, Pa., of 
which niention has been made in other pages. My father, 
Alfred Sargent, and my mother, whose maiden name was 
Maria Phelps, were born in New York State, in Cincin- 
natus, Cortland County; my mother in Leroy, New York, 
and were married in Spring, Crawford Co., Pa., in 1830. 

I Avas born on the 1,5th day of July, 1832, at Spring, 
Crawford Co., Pa. This was my home principally for 
twenty-two years. The school that we attended was kept 
liy the school marm in summer and by the school master in 
winter, where S. and three E.'s, "Spelling, Reading, Kiting 
and Rithmetic, " for the first two or three years, was taught, 
when it was discovered that the young ideal required 
teachers of a different calibre, and Ave l)egan to have taught 
spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, grannnar, geography 
and algebra, and later to practice elocution, composition 
debating, etc. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 135 

There was a plenty of material of both sexes in our 
school and in the winter term as high as ninety scholars, 
quite enough for one teacher in one small school room. 
We generally had good schools. Occasionally a tender- 
foot would start in. We had no use for such and would 
swap him otF. Our school made good progress, from the 
fact that the apt scholar was not held back for the slow 
one. It w^as free for all on their merits. 

I have many times been thankful to my father and 
mother for giving me the best opportunity they could at 
that time to attend school in my youthful days, for I realize 
that what I learned in those days I can best remember. I 
can look back through the long vista of fifty years to tlios e 
youthful, happy days and delineate most minutely every 
scene and incident enacted, and which I then witnessed, as 
though it was but yesterday. Recreation I know is health- 
ful, and in this respect I was not stinted for the want of 
pleasant recreation. I have seen its baneful effect upon the 
youth. Too much leniency given, however, might be per- 
nicious, but on the other hand, the hand of discipline, the 
every-day stay-at-home, the over-worked youth, is often 
dwarfed in mind, in body, and in soul. And this trait is 
not confined to the youth. How is it with the miser, oi 
the man who lives in one corner of your town, and you 
w^ouldn't know he lived there unless you went to see him \ 
A donation is announced, or a festival, the proceeds of 
which are to be used for some ^vorthy purpose — not a 
nickel; and he quite begrudges the quart of buttermilk or 
the dish of saurkraut donated. 

In my early teens I had a desire to go somewhere 
occasionally and see something of the world. In this 
respect my parents were sufficiently lenient. But had it 



136 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

been to the reverse, from my nature I know that it would 
not have been as well for me in the long run. 

THE OLD BLOCK HOUSE, 

The old block house stood on the brow of the hill on 
the west side of the Albion and Springboro Road, in Spring, 
Pa. It was built in 1819, and was occupied by Phineas 
and Mary Sargent and family. Stately whitewood and 
cucumber trees were felled and cut in lengths 22 and 32 feet, 
and hewn for the erection of the Block House, the ends of 
the logs being dovetailed to hold them tirmly in place. The 
amount of valual)le timber used in the construction of those 
crude pioneer buildings would now-a-days bring a snug sum 
of money. 

Saw mills then in that timbered country, were much 
scarcer than cyclones are now on the western prairies. The 
early settler was fortunate in getting lumber sufficient to lay 
down a floor in his house, and shakes (split out of white ash 
timber) about three feet long, were generally used in place 
of shingles, for roofing the cabin, house or barn. 

PUNCHEON FLOORS 

Was the sort of flooring generally used by the early settlers. 
Straight rifted smooth trees about a foot in diameter were 
selected, cut to the required length, split and smoothly hewn 
and laid down closely together for the floor. It made, 
however, a strong floor which wouldn't spring and joggle 
to flop the milk out of the pans at a house warming, when 
stepping to the tune of "The Arkansaw," "Zi}) Coon/' or 
the "Devil's Dream.'' 

THE WOOD BEE. 

It was the custom in those days for the people to turn 
out and got up a large pile of firewood for old people, the wid- 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 137 

ow, the sick or unfortunate. One wintry afternoon in Janu- 
ary was the time set for a wood bee at the block house of Capt. 
Sargent. A goodly number of teams, men and boys, were 
on hand, some to fell and cut the timljer into sled lengths, 
others to assist in loading and unloading, others to chop the 
logs into fire wood at the door, and when night came there 
was a large pile of Ijcech and maple logs, also a good pile 
cut into fire wood. Grandfather was much pleased, and 
extended thanks to them for the good work they had done 
for him, wdien they left for home, except the few who ling- 
ered for a little more juice from com and rye. There were 
a couple of old hunters among the number, Chester Morley 
and Charles Sargent, who proceeded to seat themselves in 
the old block house by the fire. The fire place was as big 
as all out-doors, wherein a couple of huge liack logs, a big 
fore stick, numerous brands and sticks of kindling w^ood 
had been placed, and soon there was a rousing, cracking 
fire — 

With lots of g-lowiug coals, 

To drive out the cold. 

Chet and Charley settled down in their usual way, 

Then us youug kids knew they'd come to stay, 

Their hunting stories to relate. 

Until an hour quite late. 

When us kids, a half dozen or more, lit out for home 
to get our sleds, to have some fun on the hill a little later, 
and to peer in upon the picnic going on in the old block 
house ; returning, and after testing the speed of our sleds 
down the steep declivity of the hill and across the fiat, onto 
the ice of the stream to make our mark. This having been 
accomplished in due time, we changed our tactics, ascended 
the hill, and ventured in upon the noted nimrods, where 
we beheld Morley already in his element, undergoing a 



138 PIOXEER SKETCHES. 

doubled geared movement in gesticulation and articulation, 
descriptive of Old Red and the bear and the deer, which, 
when deciphered, runs something like this: — 

Chet Morley had a rifle he called "Old Red," 

Of him and his gun it often had been said 

When he drew a bead along the barrel of "Old Red" 

Upon a bear or deer, 'twas surely dead. 

THE DIFFERENCE. 

Old Charlie would take a nip at every round, ' 
But wouldn't take enough to fetch him down. 

We soon discovered that Morley was getting so mellow 
that there was not much hope of having a picnic with him, 
later on the hill ; but we knew old Charlie was good for it 
if we could get him interested. 

Presently Morley calls for the brown jug, with which 
I quickly stepped by his side and whispered in his ear that 
the boys had fixed it and that it was not fit to drink, and he 
declined to drink, while old Charlie's eyes were on me, 
looking like two peeled onions. "Mart.,'' said he, "hand 
that bottle to me. " Then he snufied at it a couple of times 
and then took a drink. Morley, squinting with half-closed 
eyes, said, "Chales, Chales, how does it taste?" "Wliy, 
you fool, " exclaimed Charles, "you can't fool me with kid's 
water," and handed Morley the bottle, from which he took 

a long pull. "Stop!" said Charles, "don't be a d d 

hog — why don't you do as 1 do, take a little and often V 

The old clock struck ten, when Charlie said, "Come, 
Morley, it's time to make a start for home." The kids, 
with the biggest sled, were already in line on the brow of 
the hill to give Uncle Charlie a fleet ride down and up the 
steep hills homeward. It took considerable persuasion to 
get him to consent to take that ride, but finally, with the 




UNCLE Charlie's ride. 



140 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

interrogation, "Now, my short lads, will you give me a 
good ride down this and up that slippery hill ?" "Yes," 
was the answer, when he cautiously- and skeptically got 
aboard the sled, with hands firmly clenched to the raves, 
feet protruding outward, when he said, "All ready, my 
lads." This was the cheerino^ word we had been waitins: 
for for hours, when oflf we started with our eight-hoss kid 
team with our precious cargo of 200 pounds allying down 
the hill, across the flat, like a drove of antelopes. We 
ascended the steep, slippery, Woodard hill, and old Charlie 
enjoyed his ride hugely. When near the top of the hill we 
suddenly pushed the sled with its precious cargo backwards 
at a fearful rate down the declivity. The scene we just 
then realized was terrific. We held our l^rcath in fearful 
suspense as old Charlie and the sled were approaching the 
brink of the precipice, already on the edge of the bridge, 
over which if he went would break his neck. Uncle Charlie 
had awaken to the danger of the situation, when just then 
behold some desperate movements. His legs and hands in 
quick manoeuvre, the snow aflying, the sled broadside, when 
over she rolls, cargo and all, his head protruding over the 
bridge, with sufficient avordui)ois resting on the l)ridge to 
prevent his going overboard. He cautiously got away from 
the edge of the bridge, picked up that hand sled and slung 
it into Woodard's field, striking on a huore rock and makinjr 
every joint holler, when he started u}) the hill, exclaiming, 
"I'll fix you, my short lads, if I get hold of you !" 

We didn't propose he would get hold of us. While 
this was sport for the boys, it was next to ruin for the hand 
sled and a sad accident to its rider. After all we had a 
desire to see our genial Uncle Charlie safely home. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 141 

And Ave watched him slid his way along, 

Until he had reached his quiet home 

To dream that night of riding on the kid hand sled, 

And how he rolled o'er that snowy bed: 

Chester charged into a fence corner, 

AVhere, lone-handed, he threw up Jonah 

While on his way to his abode. 

As he had too big a load. 

That night he got the biggest load of corn 

Ever since the day he was born. 

Various other ways did the early settlers help each 
other. In the spring time they would plow, plant and sow 
the spring crop for those wdio were unable by sickness or 
otherwise, and in many instances harvest their crops, with- 
out mone}^ or price. All they required was, when the un- 
fortunate one recovered, to act manfully and do likewise 
when occasion required. 

They also furnished reliable mutual insurance without 
paying for high salaried officers and gilt edged policies. 
When the house or the barn of a pioneer was destroyed by 
fire or lightning, they re-built it. There was no premium 
offered for incendiarism by over insurance at that day. 
Hence they created no fire bugs. Bed bugs and mosquitoes, 
no doubt, were preferable, and sufficient to be pestered 
with. 

They drew a lesson from the corn cribs of Egypt, when 
Joseph inteqoreted the troublesome dreams of Pharoah the 
king, when he saw seven fat, sleek cows come up out of the 
river Nile, followed by seven gaunt ones which were to de- 
vour the former. The seven fat cows were synonym of 
seven years of plenty, the seven gaunt ones were seven 
years of famine, and the people must lay up one-fifth of 
their crop each year to prepare for the famine, which they 



142 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

did, and their assets were sutficient to insure them food 
throuofh the famished years. The pioneer people of Amer- 
ica shared with the famished and the needy from their assets, 
their corn cril)s, flour bins and pork barrels — a reliable in- 
surance company, and they never scaled a genuine policy. 

As we return to the old block house on the hill, we 
find its occupants, Phineas and Mary Sargent, have been 
busy, and mindful of the future, in planting trees, shrub- 
bery, etc. In front of the house — 

Stood the stately locust and the fragrant lilac, 

Neath the hill, near the rill, the willow and the sumac; 

Ascending the hill you would come 

To the artichoke and delicious ^^^ jilumb. 

Farther on the cherry, peach and apple trees, 

And in a sheltered nook hives of honey bees. 

Busy bees, flying here, there and all over, 

Extracting honey from the lilac and the clover. 

In looking hack to those former days, 
To note the good, old-fashioned ways. 
Compared to the modern style. 
We think it hardly worth the Avhile 
The agonies of fashion to undergo. 
And wonder why it should be so. 

Revolving time has wrought its change, 

From Texas to the State of Maine. 

We hope such change will prove for the best, 

For you and I and all the rest. 

Some of the changes that have l)eeu wrought, 

However, have been dearly bought. 

But now, as we drive up to the stream. 
If we can't ford it we can cross by steam. 
Sliould we to fashion's swirl comply, 
When we're fixed to live we're ready to die. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 143 

I think I'd better close my ditty soon, 
For my wife is coming with her broom, 
And I will up and out of door, 
■ For you. know she wants to sweep the floor. 

After all, the floor is swept, 

Still, I find there's something of me left. 

With wife's consent, I'll proceed to relate 

Something about the spare rib and the Johnny cake. 

In the fire place hung the crane 

Planted in the chimney there to remain. 

On which to hang the spare rib, turkey and goose, 

To roast deliciously for family use. 

Yes, the crane was an important factor on which could 
be hung pots and kettles, or swung out in front of a glow- 
ing fire to suspend the ril) or fowl a swinging, and neatli it 
a dripping pan, from which the hot grease was frequently 
applied as a dressing for the roast, and in due time a place 
was prepared in the hot ashes in the fire place, when a half 
peck of potatoes was placed therein, covered with hot ashes 
and hot embers, and in a short time were nicely roasted. 
In the meantime the Johnny cake was Ijaking in the tin 
oven or spider in front of the fire. Ah, the flavor of those 
nice roasted pinkeye potatoes, spare rib and Johnny cake 
was good enough for ye latter day saints and kings. Many 
times, since, I have wdshed I could taste of the like again. 
But some may say it's all in your eye and taste. But 
no; and the proof is, to begin with, we have no such 
potatoes nowadays as those old white and blue pinkeyes, 
yielding from 200 to 400 bushels to the acre, and bright 
and smooth did they come out of the ground, and perfectly 
healthy. Also that golden eight-rowed corn, planted 1 st of 



144 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

June, the 1st of September ready to be gi'ound and made 
into hominy or Johnny-cakes. I tell you those spare-ribs, 
roast potatoes. Johnny-cakes, puddings, and maple 'lasses 
would tickle a vigorous appetite and cure a dyspeptic. 
But those good old days have passed. Grandfather and 
grandmother have passed away, and I suppose to occupy as 
much of God's green earth and Heaven as the millionaire 
of to-day. 

Not measured by shares in railroad stock, 
But by their noble Pioneer work ; 
Which is their heritage and assurance, 
Something of greater endurance. 




CHAPTER XXVII. 

OUR FIRST FIDDLE. 
HOW GOT — A NEVADA SILVER MINE — WEAVING — MY GOOD MOTHER, 

HEN A YOUTH of about a dozeu years, 
we took it into onr head that the tiddlc 
was the thing kicking, and of all other 
things, at that time, the most desired to 
complete the round of a hajipy, earthly 
existence. When, one evening soon there- 
after, at a neighboring house we heard F. Pratt playing 
Dandy Jim and other tunes on his violin, which took us 
kids by storm and my determination to have a fiddle was a 
fixture, as we stood in amazement and gazed upon the 
player as he apparently so easily glided his fiddle stick, 
struno: with wdiite horse tail hairs, over the vibratinof, 
melodious catgut strung on the deck of his fiddle. 

I imagined the happy hours I would have in producing 
those melodious strains that go with "Dandy Jim," 'The 
Girl I Left Behind Me," or "An Arkansaw." Wherefore 
the next morning I said: "Father, I wish you would buy 
me a fiddle." 

"A fiddled' 

"Yes — I w^ant one." 

' 'You had better have a ewe sheep. " 

"I know a sheep woukl raise lambs, but she won't 
raise a fiddler, and I want something to play a tune on." 

Mother was present, and seemed very much amused 
at our dialogue, and when dinner was over she said to me : 
10 



146 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

"I am going down to Vaughn's and you had better not 
go away, but stay al)out the house, until I return." 

In about three hours she returned with a fiddle wrap- 
ped up as nicely a young infant. 

The sight of that John Vaughn fiddle just then done 
me more good than to have fallen heir to a Nevada silver 
mine. My good UKjthcr, on that afternoon, walked two 
miles to buy that fiddle, and in course of a few days wove 
a piece of flannel cloth in her hand loom to pay for it, to 
please her first l)orn. 

That was the kind of a mother I had. Musical talent, 
perhaps, did not predominate in me as mucli as in some 
others, nevertheless I got there in a manner, and have 
the consolation that the first tune I learned to play on that 
violin was the one my mother learned me, which many a 
time, at her request, I have played for her. 

Yet it has been fourteen years since my good mother 
passed from earth, I seldom take up my violin but that the 
tune she learned me comes among the first in the exercise, 
and carries me ])ack to my youthful days, in memory, to 
nolile deeds and heroic struggles of a kind mother, who was 
always ready to make great sacrifice to please her child. 
She is the one person who most keenly perceives the real 
wants and needs of the child and the youth. Reader, if 
you have a kind mother and a father you well know ni}' 
meaning. Then, in return, l)e kind to them, for the time 
you will have them with you here is of short duration. 

When life's temptation o'er us brood 
Through days of youth to manhood, 
What personages, more than any other 
Ministers to our wants? Father and mother. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 




COOKING — LINE OF TACTK^S — COON, OPPOSSUM, PORCUPINE— THE NIM" 
RODS — CUFF AND PONTO — A PAINFUL INCIDENT. 

O THOSE old schoolmates and 

neighboring bo^^s of 1840, '45 

'50 I particularly refer. Some of 

whom have gone on before, whom 

we naturally expect some day to 

overtake. But those of them who 

are still perambulating the varied busy 

scenes of life will hear witness to an 

incident of 1845. 

The latter part of August, 1845. 
we noticed numerous tracks in the 
bed of a small stream running through a meadow on my 
father's farm, resembhng a child's track from one to 
two years old. Such funny tracks, thought I, and called 
father's attention to them. He said they were coons' tracks. 
That was enough to know that the coons were out and the 
corn ears fit for roasting. An invitation was quickly 
extended to the bovs in the neighborhood to come on for a 
coon hunt. There was a strip of wood in the form of an 
"L" on two sides of the cornfield. In the evening the boys 
assenil)led under a big locust tree on the lawn, and after a 
short consultation as to the line of tactics to be pursued, 
with dogs, axes and rifles, some matches and a handful of 
salt tied up in a rag, we proceeded to forward march, 
marching out the roadway in solid column, along the north 



148 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

side of the cornfield, around to the nook of timl:»er, we took 
onr position. 

Corporals Will and Trume held the dogs by the collar, 
and at a given signal were to charge down the centre of the 
field, supported by the riflemen. Woodard's Light Infantry, 
armed with clubs, was to move down the left, and Sargent's 
Infantry along the right, and at the signal of old Cuff, the 
boss coon dog's warning voice, was to charge directly across 
the field by the left flank to the point of interest and scene 
of carnage — 

When at about half-past iiiue 
Old Cuff began to whine. 

And Corporal Trume could with difficulty hold him. When 
Capt. Sargent said, '"Let him go !" we moved quickly in 
the darkness. Soon came a yelp from old Cuff. Yelp, yelp. 
To the left, directly across the field to a small maple sap- 
ling, on which was perched a coon, and the sapling l)ending 
under its Avetght. Woodard on the left intercepted the coon 
from o-ettino: to a larirer tree. 'Twas but the work of a 
moment to shake ofi' and dispatch the coon. 

Dogs and boys, like Napoleon, still eager for greater 
conquests. Our plans had worked admirably, and we 
(juickly moved on the lower field, resorting to our former 
Hue of tactics. 

(iAME AHEAD. 

Then at the southwest corner of the field a coon crossed 
Woodard's line and went up a big soft maple tree. The 
signal given l)y the old dog l)etokened this, when we swung 
to the left and all came up on a pivot. Well, this coon tree 
towered heavenward 100 feet, and Ponto was barking up 
another near by, and we soon discovered that we had to — 




COONING. 



150 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Lay siege for that coou, oppossum or the bear, 
Porcupine, or whatever might be in the trees up there. 

A nice log heap near by was lighted, and some fence 
rails arranged for seats, etc., to prepare for the feast and to 
bivouac for the night. The roll call showed we had not lost 
a man, nor dog, nor the salt we had tied up in the rag, 
wherefore the animals had not time to devour much corn 
that night and our time had come to partake of those 
luscious green ears of roasted corn with salt well rubbed in 
lietween the kernels. Cuff and Ponto stood as sentry at 
the foot of the trees and we proceeded with our sport as 
follows: 

Boys are boys when hunting the coon, 

Whether the night is dark or brightly shines the moon; 

They liberally pluck the ears of corn 

At intervals from 10 o'clock to the coming morn. 

The log-heap is lighted and soon is all aglow, 

Straightway for the corn-ears the boys do go 

And roast 'era o'er the fire of the burning heap, 

And salt 'em well and eat, and stories tell all night to keep 

Awake until the dawn of day, 

When the first nimrod will blaze way 

At the coon upon the tree. 

Bang, bang, l)ang, miss; one, two, three. 

Number four comes to the scratch and draws his bead; 
The coon lets go and quickly drops, indeed. 
Old Cuff, who through the night as sentry stood. 
Quickly tries his nippers on his victim as if he would 
Like t(^ have a picnic with his cunniiig coon. 
And looked sad 'cause life went out so soon. 

Upon the other tree, under which Ponto watched all night, 

We behold something of a different stripe. 

Bang, bang! xVmid the smoke we see an oppossum fall; 

But lo! on his way, around a limb his tail it coils. 

By the tail it hangs, grinning, a funny sight. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 151 

Reader, had you seen it 'twould have given you delight. 

Poor oppossum, still hanging high up in the air: 

Another leaden messenger sent to bring him down from there. 

When on the ground Ponto seized him by the back, 

When we could fairly hear the bones in its body crack. 

Later on, we found that 'possum was still alive, 

Had fooled the dogs and all the boys likewise. 

On examination, neither bullet had pierced its heart, 
But simply passed through less vital parts. 
AVhereas it had stood such a galling fire. 
We concluded that 'possum should peacefully retire. 

The next morning we found it gone, perhaps to see 

Its young oppossums up a green tree. 

Some say the hardest animals to kill is a woodchuck or a cat; 

They aint to be compared to that 

Oppossum of eighteen hundred and forty-five. 

Which, I presume, is still alive. 

Presently the dogs began to bark up another tree. 
By peering up through the leaves we could see 
A dark object bristling up and sort o' shine. 
Which we discovered to be the prickly porcupine. 

A shot was let go at it; to the ground it fell . 

The dogs promptly grappled it, and as quickly did they yell; 

The porcupine's quills are bad medicine for a dog: 

By a lash of the tail it will thrust its quills into a log. 

Much better ornaments for beads for the Indian squaw 
Than they are for a dog to chaw. 

Our faithful dogs got a hot dose that bright summer morn, 
Their mouths were chock full of porcupine thorns. 

The dogs followed us to the house, where an hour we did de- 
vote 
In pulling those quills from their mouth and throat. 
With bullet moulds and pinchers 'twas all we could do; 
But the noble animals felt better when we got through. 



152 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 



The coou we nicely skinuedaucl tried out its oil; 
The porcupine we let rot upon the soil, 
Not with the hope that other porcupines would grow, 
As it is the " cursedest" animal created here below. 

It does not require much of a mathematician to figure out quite 
soon 

That a bevy of boys will eat as much corn as a litter of rac- 
coons; 

But it is natural for the boys to take down the gun 

And go among the coons, 'possums, " porcys," and have some 
fun. 

In looking back to that night of 1845 

I find some of those valiant boys are still alive. 

Wm. Skeels,Wm. Alderman, Truman Sargent, Lucius Church, 

a noble four, 
Whose hunting scenes on earth have passed o'er. 

But revolving time brings forth its change. 
AVhat seems to us a loss we hope to them is gain; 
But whether it is, or is not, an earthly boon, 
Many a noble life goes out at noon. 




CHAPTER XXIX. 

SUGAR MAKING. 

TAPPING TREES— GATHERING SAP— THE RESCUE — THE FESTIVAL — OUR 
CABIN — SUGARING OFF. 

N FEBRUARY, 1847, Ave took a sugar camp 
of Sciiyler Gates, All)ion, Pa., situate in 
the big woods of Spring, Pa., about two 
miles from our abode. Presently we said 
to cousin Alf., who lived near 1)}" on an 
adjoining farm, "Wouldn't you like to go in with me and 
work the Gates' sugar l)ush V "On what terms f said he; 
"Two-thirds of what we get; he furnishes camp, kettles 
and storage for one-third the sugar made." "I will go 
you," said Alf., "but we will probably have to make -10 
or 50 new sap troughs to replace some leaky ones."" Sap 
buckets, at that day, were much scarcer than l^abies, in 
most famihes. In due time new troughs were supplied. 
On a bright, sunny morning in March, with about a foot of 
snow on the ground, the wind southward, the air warm and 
balmy, l^etokening a good sa}) day, we proceeded to the sap 
bush accompanied by our paternal ancestors and cousins. 
Rant and Trume, and tapped 320 trees. The day was a 
gushing sap day and we placed our kettles between two 
large beech logs, comprising a chaldron, a half-chaldron 
and a five-pail kettle for a heater, preparatory for boiling. 

We were on hand the next morning and found many 
of the troughs full, and the sap still running. A fire was 
kindled and sap placed in the kettles, which in due time 



154 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

were boiling. To the novice I will state that we pnt on our 
neckyokes made from basswood timber, carved out to fit 
the neck and shoulders, about three feet long, a moosewood 
string tied to each end of the yoke attached to a wooden 
hook from which the pails suspended, the length of which 
to suit the arms and legs of the subject, when tugging 
through a foot of snow or otherwise. There was lots of 
work, hard work, in this crude Avay of maple sugar 
making. The most fatiguing part is carrying the sap 
or sugar water, in the snow or wet ground in a primeval 
forest. Snow or rain water in sap, when boiling, causes it 
to foam and boil over the kettle, when a piece of fat pork 
placed in the kettle calms its turbid action and keeps it 
down within the vessel; just the same, we presume, it Avould 
act on many an individual, with a little hard work mixed 
in, would keep down a tur1)ulent disj^osition and keep them 
from slopping over, much to the benefit of the community 
in general. 

When we had gathered the bush over we found the 
troughs first gathered were again full. This meant busi- 
ness, and as the trees over a part of the camp were 
scattered, it made much traveling to get around. A better 
thing, however, Avas in store for us, when the next morning 
K. H. came to our rescue with a pair of steers and a sled, 
and a couple of l)arrels with which to gather the sap, and 
more than this, loaves of wheat and corn bread, a ham and 
a bucket of eggs. Our good parents being farmers who 
kept geese, turkeys, ducks and hens, we got a variety of 
eggs, and, God bless them, they wx'll knew they had sent 
the provisions to a good market. 

We soon gathered our sap, and still from the sugar 
maple was briskly dropping the sweet beverage. We found 




SU(iAR MAKING 



156 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

we had to boil sap that night to make store room for the 
morrow. R. H. had to return with the steers that evcninff, 
and before dark he emerged from the wood to the settle- 
ment and could not participate in om- evening festivities. 

Slices of the bam .we broiled on a stick, 
Over the glowing coals, very quick; 
The grease we used for sop on the corn bread, 
And pronounced it the best we ever had. 

The eggs were boiled four minutes in a kettle of sap, 
But as to the time, we had to guess at that; 
For all the watch we had was a Avatch dog. 
And the brute lay asleep under a log. 

We dipped out the eggs, goose, turkey, and all sorts, what a 

sight. 
And found 'em all boiled just about right; 
Then from our broiled ham and eggs and corn bread. 
We partook of a hearty supper before going to bed. 

Our cabin was built of split bass wood and ))lack ash 
logs, notched at the ends, dovetailed, and laid up edgeways, 
al)Out the height of the average calf pen, and 8x12 feet, 
and its roof covered with l)ark. Thc^ door did not swing on 
iron hinges, but was left a grand opening like a dog kennel, 
and the cracks between the logs Avere sufficient to admit 
fresh air and a little snow occasionally. 

This cabin had not been occupied for twelve months' 
except by a stray rabbit or raccoon, consequently we had to 
go about it and put our house in order, to make up our l)eds 
for a few hours of sweet repose. The floor consisted of a 
lot of poles laid on the ground and a split basswood log 
across the head end of the bunk department for a pillow, on 
which we piled hemlock boughs a foot thick, and over all 
spread a blanket to })revent taking cold or getting th(! 
rheumatics, or a cramp in the toe nails. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 157 

The moon was shining brightly at 12 o'clock, and the 
boiling- kettle within wore a golden hue from the days' 
boiling, and we drank a quart of the sweet elixir to aid in 
digesting our hearty supper. Then followed story telling, 
and the song from ourbassino voices, Avhich made the welkin 
ring and resounded far away in the stillhess of the night, 
and was answered by the pee-wee, the nightingale, and the 
croaking of Morley's frogs in a neighboring swail, when 
we concluded, it was high time to turn in. 

We tilled up the kettles, arranged the fire, and with 
all our clothing on, hats and boots, we entered our cal)in, 
placed an army blanket over us and laid down to sleep, and 
slept soundly until 7 o'clock; awakening, we found Alf. 
grinning, and he exclaimed, "-What do you think of this I " 
''I think we're snowed under," 1 replied. 

We arose and shook ourselves like a couj^le of colts 
and emerged from the cabin, and found four or five inches of 
snow on the ground, and still snowing, and we had received 
a good sprinkling of it in the cabin. We found the con- 
tents of the kettle well boiled down, when soon we had a 
tire and reduced it to syrup, which we strained and set away 
to settle, preparatory to sugaring olf. 

The next day R. H. came to cam}), when we finished 
boiling the sap on hand, sugared oti', and at night had all 
the sugar we could carry home, leaving in the ca1)in two 
buckets of syrup. After a rest of two or three days, we 
returned to camp, and found that some "sour pilgrim" had 
invaded our cal)in and carried ofi' the syrup and forgot to 
bring any of it l)ack. After this we left no syru}) in the 
ca])in for others to sugar ofi' at our expense, and attended 
to each sugar run, and made a])out 500 pounds of sugar, 
and had a sweet time generally. We thought that sugar, 
ham and eggs and corn bread tasted sweeter in the Avoods 
than at our own domicile. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



OUR FIRST TRIP ON THE RAGING CANAL. 

THE SUMMIT— THE FEEDER— HARTSTOWN POND— HUNDREDS OF SNAKES 
— TRIBES OF INDIANS— THEIR DEPARTURE FOR THE SOUTHWEST — 
THE POLK AND DALLAS— TOWED BY A STEAMBOAT— ROUNDING 
BEAVER POINT — A NARROW ESCAPE. 

APTAIN ELISHA ALDERMAN, who 

lived three-fourths of a mile south of 
Albion, Erie county, Pa., owned and 
commanded the canal boat Polk and 
Dallas, Avhich was one of the first l)oats 
run on the Erie & Pittsburg Canal. 
One evening in June, 184:6, his boat la}' 
r>-=3e[M!iiiir-----=;,=_>^ moored on the Birm side of the canal at 
r • --'^^^JL /^/i gK Bowman's wood, near Shadeland. His 
son, Fayette, mounted Old George and 
rode away to my father's house to hire me go on a trip with 
them to Pittsburg. Father said corn-hoeing was coming 
on but he thought he could manage that; if I wanted to go, I 
could. His decision suited me to a "T," as it would give 
me an opportunity to see the Shenango valley and the dif- 
ferent towns along the route to Reaver Falls, thence a ride 
on the Ohio River up to Pittsburg, all of which I had never 
seen or enioyed. I was electrified at the thought of going 
on that voyage, and thought father very kind to let me go 
at that time. 

I was up and dressed at 3 o'clock the following morning, 
and mounted Old George, with Fayette on before, and 




PIOiYEER SKETCHES. 159 

away we rode to where the boat la}' moored, as aforesaid. 
Arriving, the bow of the boat was set across the canal. 
Soon she came up to the tow-path broadside, when Bill 
(the mate to Old George) walked out of the midship cal)in 
to take his place as the saddle-horse, and the two were 
hitched on to the tow line and we were soon on our way. 

It was a fine Jane mirning, and the nurning song of 
the myriad warblers in Bowman's w(K)(1 lent enchantment 
to the spell. 

Well, we were soon in the Spring Corncn-s lock, at the 
head of the eleven-mile level. From there we found many 
locks Iwfore reaching the Summit, at which place the feeder 
comes in to supply the water for the canal from French 
Creek at Bemustown, some three miles above Meadville. 

We entered the big pond at Hartstown about 5 o'clock, 
and such a sight I never saw before, nor since. Had St. 
Patrick been there he could have got a jol). Snakes! Yes, 
snakes, laying along the edge of the tow-path and in the 
water, everywhere from three to six feet long. Black and 
sleek they were. We struck at them Avith a setting pole a 
hundred times, perhaps, in a distance of a mile's travel and 
they would slip off' like eels and as indifferently as if we 
were striking at as many ropes of India rul)ber. AYe could 
only conclude, if what we saw was a fair specimen of the 
snakes contained in that 1700-acre pond or lake, that all the 
waters of the State of Pennsylvania were boiled down into 
that area to produce as many black snakes as existed on 
that ]:)right summar day in the big pond at Hartstown. 

Night came on and we tied up near Greenville. There 
the tow-path run along the bank of the Shenango River, 
and so continued a good share of the wa^^ to Beaver, where 
it empties into the Ohio. 



160 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

In due time we passed Greenville, Sharon and New 
Castle, and in the interim I found I had to work in various 
capacities — driver, cook, lock-fitter, rowersman and steers- 
man, all of which, for so young a lad, was more than I bar- 
gained for when I started out. 

Nothing more noteworthy, however, occurred until we 
passed New Castle, when liiree line l)oats came u}), loaded 
with Indians westward bound to Indian Territory. They 
were the Seneca tribe from the Cataraugus Reservation, 
Western New York. An incident occurred as the boats 
were passing through a lock. Two buck Indians clinched 
and had an extremely lively tussle, to the merriment of the 
lookers-on. Shortly they fell, still clutching each other, 
and rolled over and over to the side of the boat, and would 
have rolled into the lock had they not been caught by the 
bystanders, who separated them. They were the first tribe 
of Indians I ever saw, and afi^()rded nmch curiosity to my 
youthful eye. By the way, I noticed some pretty fine- 
looking Indian girls among the tril:>e. 

Our boat arrived in Beaver in time to see them take 
their departure on board a steamboat for St. Louis and St. 
Charles, thence up the Missouri River en route to their reser- 
vation. When the Indians were aboard and the steamer 
ready to drop from her -moorings an old squaw could not 
be persuaded to go on board the boat. She waved her 
hand back in the direction from which she came and said 
she wanted to go l)ack to the rising sun, to her happy old 
home, the scenes of her childhood. Her gestures, ai)pear- 
ance and manner of speech I shall never forget, and many 
present expressed themselves that it was a rather affecting 
inci(l(^nt. After much solicitation by members of her tribe 
and the agents, with a promise that she could some day 



PIONEER SKEICHES. 161 

€()ine back, she consented to go aboard the boat, which was 
soon 

Steering away down the Ohio for the Southwest, 
And the number of Senecas have become much less; 
Like all the other tribes in past decades, 
Diminishing in every move they have made. 

Two young boys remained in the skifE of the steamer, behind, 
On leaving, sadly chimed a doleful requiem; 
The skiff stood nearly on end from the steamer's waves, 
Yet determined to ride in the skiff were the young braves. 

Reader, if you are familiar with Indian history, I know 
You will have some compassion for poor Lo, 
By the white man driven fj'om post to post, 
No wonder he feels like giving up the ghost. 

A steamer came alongside the Polk and Dallas and we 
were soon on our way up the Ohio to the Smoky City, 
making several stops to let off and take on passengers, (as 
these river boats in that way are very obliging) they will 
steam np to the beach any Avhere on the route for passen- 
gers. About three hours time was required to make Pitts- 
burg. Our cargo consisted of white ash ripped lumber 
(unedged) consigned to Wardroup, Stout &, Williams, 
agricultural works, for the manufacture of agricultural 
implements. 

The next morning we commenced to discharge our 
load. The captain and his big boy, Fayette, did help us 
unload that luml)er, but the next morning did usher in one 
of those old time hot days, and thirty-live tons of railroad 
iron was to go aboard the Polk and Dallas for Erie, when 
Captain Elisha and his big boy, Fayette, excused them- 
selves and slunk away into the shade and left the loading 
of that railroad iron to us two young lads, all alone to our 
glory, which soon began to bite our hands. From a couple 

II 



162 PIONEER SKE TCHES. 

of l)oot legs we cut thumb holes, and covered the inside of 
our hands with leather, that we could better stand the 
racket. Those rails were of the old-fashioned "T" stripe 
and, of course were not so heavy as the rail of to-day, but 
heavy enough for two young boys to handle, and as we 
walked from the wharf to the boat, tugging under the 
heavy load, we would frequently throw the right leg under 
the rail to lighten up the weight, and before night our 
trousers leg was worn through from knee to thigh, and had 
it not been for a tough lining under the trousers leg, that 
iron might have kept on wearing. Sweat; why we were as 
wet as a couple of dipped wharf rats and our shirts yellow as 
safiron bags. That ni<>:ht we felt more like restinir than 
going to the theatre or seeing the sights in a strange city, 
but we had seen the elephant all day and must be content. 

In justice to Capt. Alderman we will say that he was 
afflicted with a fever sore on one of his limbs, and to a great 
degree Avas excusable, but we thought he should have fur- 
nished a substitute on that day, as long as his incorrigible 
liig l)oy rendered so httle aid in that heavy work. But the 
captain catered to our wants frequently for cool water, and 
in the afternoon twice to a kreutzer of sparkling lager, 
which, if ever it did us any good, it did on that memorable 
occasion. 

The next morning about 9 o'clock the steamer took the 
Polk and Dallas in tow for Beaver. As we steamed out 
into the l)road channel of the Ohio we gazed l)ack to the 
conflux of the Allegheny and Monongahela and to the 
Smoky City in the dim distance, we began to feel somewhat 
invigorated as we glided along on this, the pleasantest pnrt 
of our trip. 



164 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

When near Scwickly, at a signal from persons on the 
shore, the steamer made for them to take them aboard. Our 
boat was made fast about one third her length abow of the 
steamer, consequently when the steamer touched shore for 
the passengers the bow of the canal boat was left aground 
and thus the steamer, instead of Ijacking ofl, as she should 
have done, swung to the right, thereby badly cracking one 
of the gunwales of the Polk and Dallas, and when out into 
the channel a sheet of water ran through the l)roken gun- 
wale sufficient to sink her in a short time. 

If ever a man moved lively 'twas Fayette Alderman 
just then. The oakum, mallets and caulking irons w^ere 
quickly In'ought into requisition. He and the captain l)eing 
good caulkers they worked like beavers, and before we 
reached Beaver Point they had the leak stopped. 

Yoims: as we Avere we reconmicnded an attachment 
plaster to be put on that steaml)oat captain for that jol), 
but he was allowed to go scott free and collect tow bill (in 
part) for towing and breaking the boat's gunwale. You see 
it's natural for the 1)ig nuicky-mucks to shove oft' the smaller 
fry, which custom is pernicious and sliould be resisted l\y 
the last lip and the last dolUu-. 

After dinner old Bill and George, our [)ropelling power, 
walked leisurely out of the midship stable and were hitched 
onto the tow line, preparatory to rou-iding Beaver Point to 
enter the Shenango on our way homeward. There Avas a 
sand bar running out some distance, and in rounding the 
point our steersman, anxious to evade this, swung out too 
far into the current. The horses were already in the Avater 
and Avhen the current struck the boat broadside they Avcre 
pulled further into the stream. Wc saw our danger at once, 



P/O.VEEH SKETCHES. 165 

and eMcli man, with his setting pole with iron hook and 
socket on end, applied them with all his might. 

The saddle horse was in the water to his saddle, and 
the heroic rider (John), standing in the stirrups, urged the 
horses for all he was worth. We were about to cut the tow 
line for the moment, and go over to Bridgewater or down 
the river miles below. At this juncture the current of the 
Shenango seemed to brace up the situation, when we could 
feel the l3oat begin to move forward, and the driver still 
urging the motive power, when the horses began to emerge 
from the water, and soon again were on terra firma. 

We entered the Shenango and made the Kenacanese 
Lock that evening — twelve miles. We laid up for the night 
in the jaws of the lock, when the arduous duty of cook- 
ing supper was devolved upon the writer. I didn't like the 
business, never was cut out for a cook, but I had learned to 
become quite a dabster at it already, since my exit upon the 
raging canal. 

From a lot of dry pine wood, full of pitch (turpentine) 
I soon had a cracking fire, with a tea kettle over, the pota- 
toes on boiling, and already the ham and eggs, little later 
to fry, as a boatman can take his ham or meat, eggs, pota- 
toes and sich three or four times a day with impunity, with- 
out offering up an excuse or generally any sort of a bless- 
ing. All at once I heard a flopping, and from the boat 
gunwale on to the railroad iron and on to the dunage floor. 
I skipped out and peered down and beheld the l)iggest black 
bass I ever saw. As the boat lay up to the wind wall of 
the lock it would sway back and forward a few inches, and 
probal)ly touched the fish, when it jumped up as a bass often 
does, and landed in the boat. The next thing on the pro- 
gramme was to dress and cook that fish, which we had for 



166 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

supper and breakfast, and there is no l)etter eating than the 
black bass. 

We turned in early that night, with nothing to molest 
our slumber except the outljurst of the bewitching song of 
the Shenango bullfrog, with his dreadful chorus "Better go 
round." But we were soon in the sweet embrace of Mor- 
pheus and had no time to "go round" nor to dream of snakes 
or bullfrogs. 

The next morning at the dawn of day we pulled out of 
the lock, -when again we heard the sweet music of a thous- 
and morning songsters to cheer us on, in great contrast with 
the bassino voice of the bull fros; of a few hours before. 
As we passed along up the bank of the Shenango, we 
noticed the trees on its towering hillsides bending toward 
its waters, and rocks as l)ig as a meeting house carelessly 
overhanging our heads, and how such huge rocks came 
there, to frowningly remain at such a dizzy height, was a 
Avonder to my youthful mind. The scenery of the lower She- 
nango is picturesque and grand, and its l^lack l)ass, Ijull 
frogs and rattle snakes most beautiful. No incidents of 
note, onward, except that five days later we safely arrived 
at our paternal roof, being out fifteen days on our first trij) 
on the rajriniT canal. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 




said. 



Captain of a Canal Boat, with Papers in My Hat— A Cheese 

Deal. 

jN the spring of 1847, when plowing 
and corn-planting was done, 1 asked 
my father to let me take Old Fan to 
put with another horse on the tow 
line and make a couple trips to Erie. 
He replied: " Whose boat will you 
get ?" ' ' The Queen Sada and its 
owner, Ogilvy Cole, to steer her," I 
And I can make a couple of trips and some money 
and fetch around in time to help hoe the corn. " He said I 
could take the mare. I proceeded to do so and rode to 
All)ion, engaged two loads lumber, hoops and saddle-trees 
of Messrs. John and Pearson Clark to deliver in Erie, and 
hired Cole and his boat. The next day we loaded the boat 
and the next morning we pulled out for Erie with the 
papers in my hat as captain of the canal Ijoat, with Elisha 
Youno; as rowersman and Cole as steersman. I had good 
luck on that trip, likewise the second one, and did as Avell 
as I had expected; and a boy is apt to think he can do 
about as much, and know about as much, at fifteen years as 
ever. 

A CHEESE DEAL. 

My parents kept a good number of cows, as did also 
my Uncle Anson Sargent on his adjoining farm. In the 
cheese-making season the milk of the cows of both farms 



168 PIONEER SKE TCHES. 

was put together to make larger clieese. As warm weather 
was again coming on, and as my parents liad most of the 
previous year's stock of cheese on hand, my mother said: 
"Martin, lavish you woukl sell the cheese. We have now 
kept them nearly a year and it is time they were disposed 
of. There are about forty that might be sold." 1 replied 
that I thought they might be sold in Erie as W'cll as any- 
where else. The cheese was hauled to the canal and put 
aboard the boat for the Erie market. 

The cheesemaker, also the lover of cheese, are well 
aware that the little white skipper is very fond of cheese 
and that it don't select a poor cheese, either ; consequently 
in a lot of 40 cheese it would not be strange during the year 
for the little white wiggler to invade some one or more of 
the aforesaid lot of cheese. 

Some folks appear to like cheese — skippers and all. I 
have seen people take a slice of cheese full of little white 
squirmers, and eat it down and call it good. Perhaps it 
was good to see them wiggle. 

The next day I discovered that some had already taken 
abode in a cheese, and his skippership had crawled out, as 
if to o-et the course it was sailing. Arriving at Erie I called 
at all the canal groceries and others near by, but could tind 
no buyer. Everybody supplied. Tried it again the next 
day, with no better success. The next morning I dropped 
into a canal grocery and made a sale of the whole lot, wdiich 
much delighted me and exalted my boyish ideas in trade. 
The cheese was weighed, the amount figured out, and the 
buyer counting out the cash to pay me for the same, when 
in ste})ped a man and asked the grocer what he was doing, 
"Paying for this lot of cheese," he replied. "We don't 
w^ant it. This fellow was in here the other day and I told 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 1(.)9 

him we didn't want to buy cheese." The grocer put away 
his money, when I said to him, ' ' What has all this to do 
with our bargain, anyhow V "I am a partner in this con- 
cern/'' ''Very well,"' said I, "then pay for the cheese I 
sold the firm; if not, you can settle with Lawyer Marshall," 
and started out. -'Hold on," said he, "as it is, Fll give 
give you one-half in cash and one-half in salt and take the 
cheese." "How much a barrel for salt?" I asked. "Eight 
shillings and six pence," said he. "That will do," I re- 
plied. The salt whs loaded aboard the boat, homeward 
l)ound, and I sold it to the farmers at $1.50 per ban-el. 
Just as I was leaving the kicking grocer, to get fairly even 
with him I advised him to better keep a little salt on hand 
to salt down his cheese skippers. Later we heard that the 
cheese market had fallen off somewhat at the canal grocery, 
but the skipper market had improved. 




CHAPTER XXXII. 

AN EARLY VISITOR. 
A TEIIKIFIC YELL— A MAGICAL EFFECT. 

N 1847 a little l)iirg in Eric County, 
Pa., named by a straight haired 
preacher ""Tightholc," who had la- 
l)orcd earnestly for their soul's salva- 
tion, and when al)out to leave the 
l)lace, the preacher felt that his good 
work was not fully appreciated, and 
in his prayers he desired the Lord to 
bless that community, especially the 
people of Tightholc — hence the place 
took that name. The town is situated on the old Erie & 
Pittsburg Canal, about two miles south of All)ion, and that 
was the name generally used by the ])oatmen. Later it was 
called Harrisonville, and now Keepville. 

In those days rousing meetings Avere held in the school 
houses where there were no churcli l)uildings. It \vas a 
common occurrence for the preacher to exhort and sing so 
earnestly that he would sweat like a rail splitter in midsum- 
mer, and all for a small pittance. Nevertheless much inter- 
est was taken in the meetings. The writer (then a youth 
of 16) accordingly took it into his head one crisp Sunday 
afternoon in January to go down to Tightholc to meeting, 
also to attend the evening services. Good meetings were 
had and the usual interest manifested. There were numer- 
ous young people there with whom I was acquainted, and I 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 171 

found myself in their eonipany on our way home. In due 
time, a good hmeh was served : Mince pie, fried cakes and 
cheese, apples and cider, of w^iich young folks can at most 
any time eagerly partake. Of course, while in good com- 
pany, time swiftly flies, and when the wee hours 1 and 2 
came we were retracing our steps homeward, and when 
M-e had advanced al)outhalf a mile from the corporate limits 
of Tighthole, opposite the dense black hemlocks, we heard 
a cracking of the ice near shore on the eastern side of 
Alsworth Coles' duck pond, on the E. & P. Canal. 

It was one of those strange, cold wintry nights when 
everything in animate and inanimate creation generally was 
hushed in the arms of Morpheus. The sun the previous 
evening looked as if it was wading in a snow-drift. Already 
the snow was knee deep on the ground. The moon, appar- 
ently, was scooting into and out from ])ehind the clouds, 
playing a gi'and panorama in space on that cold, gray 
night. Her bewitching, silvery disc reflecting through the 
clouds, yet feebly into the hemlocks on the dark side of 
that duck pond on the eleven-mile level of the raging 
canal, gave one an impression long to be remembered. 

But hark I The clinks of ice again on that dark shore 
soon revealed the form of a l)lack brute snuffing around, 
which made directly for me. The pale flittering of the 
moonlight enable dme, 

"As the brute came nearer," 

To see more clearer : 

There was no such dog round there, 

"'Twas nothing else than a big, black bear," 

I thought of many things in a minute. Nothing with 
me but a pen-knife and the arms that God gave me to de- 
fend myself. Something must be done, and that quickly. 



172 PIONEER SKETCHES 

The leer and grin on the face of ray early visitor betokened 
a grim visage of an early picnic with bruin. To run was 
useless, and to climb a tree would he sport for the brute. 
There was a straight rail fence within a few feet of me, 
capped and staked. I quickly jerked from the fence one of 
the stakes, about six feet long, which was in such shape that 
I could wield it to advantage, and quickly wheeled about 
with uplifted stake. When bruin was only a few feet below 
me I gave a terrific yell, which echoed far beyond the 
realms of Tighthole or the present limits of Keepville. 
That yell had a magical effect on the bear, as he wheeled 
about and sat upon his haunches, threw his head to one 
side, gave me a parting grin, and marched off toward the 
dark hemlocks, across the icy pond from whence he came. 

Well, I was exceedingly glad that my early visitor had 
concluded to leave me at that lonely spot on that lonely 
night, " alone to my glory. " With quickened footsteps I 
made up the tow-path for my Uncle Ira Locke, near the 
Union school-house, which was about one and a-half miles 
from my paternal roof. Arriving, I knocked loudly on his 
door. He opened the door and said: "Come in. Out 
rather late, aren't you, for a boy?" " Yes, I guess so. I 
just had a little experience down the tow-path that you 
needn't say anything about, at least not until 3'ou see those 
bear tracks, as the boys would laugh at me." "All right," 
said uncle; "but you must stay here the remainder of the 
night, as the weather is cold and the snow deep." He did 
not have to use much persuasion to get me to stay, as a few 
hours of refreshing sleep would better tit me to solve the 
coming sch()ol-da3^\s problem of Dayl)oll and the etymology 
of Kirkham at the old school-house a few hours later. 




A ailDNIGHT VISITOK. 



174 PIONEER SKE 7 CHES. 

The bear's tracks were the next day seen all right, and 
by some hunters tracked beyond Porky street and into the 
big woods of Denmark, Ohio. Its shaggy robe has served 
to keep many a one warm and more comfortable than it did 
me on that cold, wintry night on the Erie & Pittsburg 
Canal on my lonely excursion one and a-half miles south 
of the antiquated burg of Tighthole. 

" 80 you see one eau never know at all" 

What's going to hapj^eu out on the E. & P. Caual. 

In fact, the half never has been told 

Of the haps and mishaps about ancient Tighthole. 




CHAPTER XXXIII 

''IN LOVE AND OUT." 

LOADED HER, and she seemed to me 
As fair as Summer skies; 

Her gentle, sunny face to see 
AVas gladness to my eyes. 

Her hand was soft, her foot was small, 
Her cheeks were like the rose ; 

But I admired most of all 

The freckles on her nose. 

She jilted me, and then I learned 

That love indeed is blind; 

Her many charms I once discerned. 

Have faded from my mind. 

She isn't near so jn-etty as 

The lilly or the rose; 
I'll never wed a girl who has 

Such freckles on her nose. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 




THE HOME OF OUK YOUTH. 

'^\^ W/////Z^i IIP]RE is no place to where our memories 
.should more fondly cluster than around 
the home of our youth. Like the flow- 
ers of Spring time budding into blossom, 
Ijuoyant and imaginative thoughts waft 
us forward to prospective future scenes, 
to be enacted in the drama of life. AVhat 
a vast field li(!S stretching out to the gaze of the youthful 
eye U})on which to contem})late ! Hence the great game of 
chanc(! in the race of life soon conunences. 

Some play it with great skill and jjvecisiou, 
Others soon land in a poor house or a prison; 
A rigliteous home teaching in a majority of cases, 
Will land us all in proper places. 

Industry, tenn)erance and frugality are the three main 
spokes in the wheel of fortune. Look ye out upon the 
plodding nudtitude marching up and down the avenues of 
life. Behold the buoyant and sunny face of the maiden or 
the matron, the air of content upon the visage of the l)usy 
man, or the smiling, happy youth. Again, behold the 
woman — 

Witli pale face, unsteady stej) and solenni nuen. 
With noble form and feature as e're was seen. 
With downcast look she i)lods lier way anlog, 
])riven from home into the thronii-. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 177 

Look ye there, a reeling form, with slobbered face, 
Following the one whom he had disgraced, 
Thrown out to earn her living in anguish and in tears, 
By one with whom she had spent best portion of her years. 

Such scenes are not confined to the middle ages, but to 
the tender 30uth. Then can we wonder how it is that there 
are so many fallen creatures in our land ? A })roper train- 
ing and living in the home of our youth does much to pre- 
vent this unhappy condition. Therefore w^e have work — 

For the missionary from every hand, 

AVithout going to India's distant heathen land, 

To educate our kin in industry, temperance and truth, 

Right here amoucr us, at the home of our youth. 



12 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE HOG — HIS EXPLOIT IN A WELL— THE RESCUE 

A bog is a hog the world around, 

To drive him vou first must knock him down. 




O IT APPEARED IN 1847, when our 
})aternal ancestor bought a hog from 
Moses Church about five miles away. 
I was sent to drive the hog home, bat 
that hog wouldn't drive and I returned 
home, took a horse and wagon and 
( busin Truman back with me for that 
hog. We found the critter as obstinate 
as ever. He would only go a few rods 
in our direction, and then would about 
wheel, Avith hogeish anints, and make 
a lunge for his pig stye. This bemg repeated several times 
we got weary and, our patience exhausted, we found that 
some other tactics nmst be resorted to, and the next time 
that barrow made a lunge to get i)ast us a heavy hickory 
whipstock held in our right hand met him between the 
snout and eyes, and he stopped right there in the road. 
We sadl}^ picked him up, and it was all Ave could do to put 
him into the wagon. Then we could drive our hog behind 
the horse in the wagon. It was a hot dtiy; the hog was hot 
and we were all hot. Arriving at Col. liutler s store, Spring, 
we halted for water to quc^nch our thirst. The sensible 
colonel recommended that we treat our hog to a coupU' of 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. ] 79 

buckets of cold water as the best panacea for a living hot 
hog on a hot July day. This was done, with soothing eliect, 
and his porkship's grunts became more animating. 

My father met us there and we drove home and put 
the hog into a yard with another of about equal size. But 
that hog was soon destined to take a more extensive l)ath at 
the expense of its owner. About (> o'clock one fine morning 
I got u)) tmd noticed both hogs in the door yard. When the 
dos: noticed them he started furiouslv for them. The hoffs 
bristled up and retreated sideway, and when this Church 
hog got alongside of the well curb he pushed it aside 
and down went the hog into the well, 12 feet deep, in which 
w^ere live feet of water. I immediately told father wdiat 
had happened. He sprang out of bed, not waiting to dress 
himself, and quickly went down into the well. Placing his 
bare feet tirmly in place in the well stones, he gral)l)ed the 
hog l)y the ears and pulled upward. That old barrow shot 
right up out of the ^vater and his head was nearly even up to 
father's. The scene was one that would till the bill for the 
ideal artist and his camera. But don't forget that that hosr 
was in the meantime })utting in his best strength and gi'unts, 
Avith the toes of his hind feet tirmly placed in a crevice of 
the stone wall and his fore feet digging away upon his 
almost naked deliverer. I could only leave them in this 
condition while running to John Woodard's, our nearest 
neighbor, for help. Mr. Woodard and Anson Sargent 
were soon on hand to the rescue. A rope was adjusted 
around the bodj- of the hog under the fore legs, and a turn 
or two around a handsi)ike and his hogship lifted up out of 
the well. The hog gave a few grunts and was all right, 
while father's breast, back and k'gs were pretty badly 
lacerated. 



180 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

A hog is a hog, we very well know, 
When you want him to move he won't go, 
You can't even coax him with an ear of corn 
The biggest hog of a hog that ever Avas born. 

Beside us sits our ancestor, whom we call Uncle Alf , 
As we write this sketch he greets us with a hearty laugh 
About the hog in the well in the clays of yore. 
And how he came out with legs and body quite sore. 

Yet my father is with us, going on eighty-eight, 
AVhich affords us consolation that he is so hale, hearty and 
straight. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



A TRIP TO MEADMLLE FOR A POUND OF TEA. 

E THOUGHT Ave had had mentioned 
e\^eryl)ody and ahnost everything con- 
cerning the early settlers of Spring, 
but when I think of that hero, Simon 
Washburn, who traveled on foot forty- 
four miles, through forest, o'er hill, 
valley and stream, to Meadville, in 
18-25— 

To buy a poaud of tea, at $2 a pouud, 

to save the life 
Of his earnest, darling wife. 

Pardon me, reader, for the inference, but what else 
could we infer, "A. D. 1891," that in making that long 
and tedious journey through the woods expressly to buy a 
pound of tea, for anything short of saving a life, when, in 
performing the act, he imperiled his own life in becoming an 
easy pi-ey to the wild beasts of the forest. 

But occasionally a pioneer lady, as well as some women 
of to-day, must have their tea to cure a headache, to pro- 
duce slumber or wakefulness, and to stimulate the nerves 
to greater action, and while at the same time the lady or 
gentleman who should moderately imbibe a little rye tea is 
going ''all wrong sure" and thrilling appeals are lauded 




IH'2 PfOXEER SKETCHES. 

upward aiul broadcast for the saving ordinance ''prohibi- 
tion." But if they would discover that a strong decoction of 
green tea would bear up an ^^^ as long or kill a dog 
quicker than w^ould a dram of rje whisky, they would not 
be, perhaps, such strong drinkers of strong tea. But as 
long as tea parties are the rule and narrow giper toe shoes 
are in fashion, it "vaIII 1ic in order, however baneful its 
effects to tlic wearer and tiie drinker. 




CHAPTER XXXVIl. 

THIRTY-TWO POUNDS OF BUTTER FOR A POUND OF TEA — THE TEA 
PARTY — FORTUNE TELLING. 

T SEEMS that in the o-ood old days of 
iS'20 ,>^onie people apparently ha<l as keen 
a relif^h for some articles and beverages as 
they have nowadays, and would imderg() 
much more in the acquisition of the same. 
The patient toil, the personal endurance 
exhibited on many occasions tells the story 
of determined and persevering action of 
the pioneer men and women. 

Frederic Bolard had a farm in Si)ring, 
Pa., and he also manufactured bells, which article was in 
gi'eat demand at that day to strap around the neck of the 
cow or sheep so it might be heard in the forest, so that at 
night th(3 boys could tell in what direction to go for the 
cows, perhaps a mile or two away in the woods. 

One day Mrs. Elizalieth Bolard discovered that her 
stock of tea in the canister was getting low, when she pre- 
pared some butter for market, and the next morning sad- 
dled her trusty horse and mounted him with two pails of 
butter, containing 32 pounds, and rode away to Meadville 
and back, a distance of 30 miles, and exchanged the 32 
pounds of butter for one pound of tea, the price of the 
butter being 6^ cents and the tea ic>2.00 per pound. 

In view of the above facts, it seems there must have 
been some fascinating allurement l)ack of this — the fash- 



1S4 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

ionable tea party and the fortuneteller around the tea table, 
where sits Misses Smith, Jones, Brown and Simpkins and 
others. Supper is over, the tea cups emptied of their deli- 
cious beverage, when a new supply of tea grounds are 
placed in the hands of those who are anxious to have their 
fortunes told; then the cups are inverted and whirled in 
the hands and gently tapped on the table by the fair appli- 
cant, that the tea grounds may be jotted along down the 
sides of the cup, when one by one hands over her cup to the 
romantic fortune teller, who is no novice at the business. 
The romance commences, the mystery is unveiled to the fair 
one, the haps and mishaps of the future are revealed in 
thrilling pathos. The zeal and enthusiasm which the fortune 
teller manifests in the work is unequalled even by the latter 
day phrenologist while examining the l)umps of the cranium, 
delineating the traits of character. Soon there is seen in 
the cup of tea grounds a dove (a carrier pigeon) carrying a 
letter in its beak, indicating glad tidings of great joy, and 
when the inspired fortune teller commences to unravel and 
interpret the contents of that mysterious missive, the heart 
of fair Abigail swells with emotion during the spell of the 
anxious ord(\al through which she is passing, under the gaze 
of the much amused members of the tea l)arty. When her 
fortune is told, should there remain some \'estige of which 
she would like to know, she adds more material and again 
flips her cup, hoping to get the balance of her desired for- 
tune. When the fortune teller has in like niunnei' served 
all of tlie party, quite satisfactoriU^ of course, she becomes 
the heroine of the party. Then follows a good time gen- 
erally, and in due time the i)arty retires to their respective 
homes — and pronounce that tea good and ch(>ap, if butter 
didn't fetch but 'n^ cents a ])ound in exchange. 



CHAPTER XXXVIIl. 



MANUFACTURINCx BLACK SALTS — SALT WELLS. 




IHOMAS foster, Samuel and David 
Thompson, settled in Spring, Pn., be- 
fore the war of 1812. Having emi- 
grated from Ireland, they were unac- 
^ (juainted with the ways and some of 
the resources possessed by the schem- 
ing New England Pioneer in making 
the most out of the situation at that 
early day in a primeval forest. Con- 
sequently they had not learned for some years after settling 
upon their lands how to utilize the })rincipal factor to 
exchange for cash, which was simply the manufacture of 
black salts, an article that found a ready sale for cash at 
Meadville, Erie, Pa., or Conrcaut, Ohio. 

In ISIS Captain Phineas Sargent and family emigrated 
from the east and settled in the said township, Spring, Pa. ; 
he proceeded to teach the above named pioneers how to 
convert their ashes into black salts, of which a w^agon-load 
could be transported to market in one days' time, from 
which the\^ could readily realize more money than from the 
sale of a span of horses, or a couple of yoke of cattle, a 
big flock of sheep or several litters of pigs. It was an 
article that they generally threw away, except a few 
bushels required for making family soap, as the new land 
did not require the ashes, as the cultivated does to-day. 



186 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Well, as this black salt making is one of the by-gones, 
especially in the crude manner rcvsorted to by the })ioneer, 
I will therefore venture to explain its method, which may 
1)e of interest to the a.spirant, the yonng man <»f th<' silver 
spoon, or to the Dandy Jim of to-day. 

The timber on the fallow-held, usually comprising say 
from three to twenty acres, Avas rolled into log heaps and 
burned to ashes; these Avere raked into hea[)s and when 
cool, to i)revent their getting wet and leeching, were hauled 
together and covered fi-om the storm. Leeches were then 
erected (generally made from split timber, like staves) the 
leech filled with ashes, tamped down so that when th(> water 
was applied It would take some hours for it to soak through, 
thereb}' producing a strong lye which was \mi into a chaldron 
kettle or kettles, set in an arch and l)oiled down to the 
consistenc}^ of molasses, and thicker. It was stirred freely 
with an iron spud, to prevent it sticking to the kettle, and 
when about as thick as mush it was removed from the 
kettle and put into a wooden trough and, when cool, cut 
and put into barrels, it Avas ready for the market, and usually 
brought from %\^ to %"y })er hundred pounds. 

Alfred Sargent, who is 87 years old and well and 
hearty at the present time, says that when a youth of 15 
}cars, his father, Phineas Sargent, built the lcech(>s for 
Foster and Thom[)son and set him to work boiling salts. 
With one kettle he could boil one hundred i)ounds per day. 

At MeadviUe there were factories to convert the salts 
into pearl ash and saleratus. Later Col. Hiram Butler, at 
Spring Corners, manufactured saleratus, and on one 
occasion the writer bought ?,ix })ounds of the best kind of 
saleratus for twenty-five cents. About the same time 
Messrs. John and Rcarson Clark, of Albion. Pa., made a 



P/OXEEN SA^ ETCHES. IS? 

ofcmiiiie articU' aiitl sold it very cheap, which f>f course was 
an indispensible article in every family. And now, we 
presume to sa}', Avith the vast increase of pojiulatioii sale- 
ratus or pure soda — like our spices, colfee and many other 
articles of food — are wickedly adulterated. 

Because somebody wauts to make a comer or a ring, 

On some very essential thinof; 

On our food, and coffee that we drink, 

How quick it kills they dou't stop to care or think. 

Salt was an indispensible and exi)ensive article to the 
early settlers. It was freighted on pack horses over the 
Allegheny Mountains from the sea board and sold for fifty 
cents per quart. Years after, about 1810, a salt well was 
drilled by Daniel Shryock. of Beaver Townshif), and one 
by Samuel Wells in Elkcreek Township. Each of these 
wells was about 100 feet deep. The water did not contain 
as much salt as the Onondaga wells in New York, Init it 
proved a Godsend to the early settlers yf Crawford and 
Erie Counties, Pa., for years, until 1825-6, when the 
eastern salt could be obtained at Lake Erie ports, and when 
the E. & P. Canal was finished, 1840, the price of salt Avas 
much lower; and to-day it is used as a land fertilizer. l)ut 
more to kill angleworms on many a poor garden spot in 
Ashtal)ula and elsewhere. 

Young man, you who tiy through the land u})ou the rail, 
In days of yore would have to haul in your sail; 
And learn, by experience, the Pioneers' fate. 
And realize vou either had to fish or cut bait. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

SPARKS OF HUMOR. 

National characteristics. — A Scotch and Irish officer 
walking through a street in Liverpool chanced to see a very 
pretty girl behind the counter of one of the shops. The 
Irishman at once proposed to go in and purchase something 
in order to get a ))etter view of the beauty, but the Scotch 
man replied, "Na, na; there's nae use wasting siller. Let's 
gang in and ask two saxpences for a shilHn. " 



Tlie Medical Gazette alleges that the following was re- 
ceived by a physician from a man whom he knew, practicing 
medicine and desiring counsel : 

"Dear Dock I have a Pashunt whose Physical Sines 
shows that the windpipe has ulcerated off, and his Lungs 
have dropped down into his stomick. I have given him 
every thin, without effect. His Father is wealthy, honor- 
al)le, inHuential, as he is member of assembly and I don't 
want to lose him. What shall I do, Ans by return male, 
YourFrat." 



Dr. Squill — "Yes, I realize my time to die has come; 
but I feel that I am not going among strangers." 

Parson Snooks — "No, indeed, doctor. Think how 
many of your patients have ])re('eded you I " 

Lawyer — *'If you and your husband can't agree, why 
don''t you agree to disagree \ " 

Fair Client — "Never! If \\\ agree to disagree, he'd 
think I was ofivinijf way." 



CHAPTER XL. 




A Trip on Lake Erie— Ohio City — Akron — Return to School. 

UKING the fore part of Septem- 
ber it was, by my parents as 
well as by m} self, thought best 
for me, at that time, when re- 
covering from a long spell of sickness, 
to take a trip on the lake and visit an 
uncle in Ohio City, with the view of a 
more speedy return to health. 

There being no railroads at that time, I took the stage 
coach to Erie, and from there I took passage on the steamer 
G. P. GritBth. The day was pleasant, but the lake was 
rough from the few days' previous storm, and the steamer 
rolled beautifully in the troughs of the sea. When we 
were off Ashtabula 1 began to experience the desired effect: 
my stomach was getting riled up. I went on to the hurri- 
cane deck to get a full sniff of the breeze — more fresh air 
— as a tonic to my revolting stomach. But no ! As this 
was my iirst ride on Lake Erie, I was destined to get my 
money's w^orth then. I laid down on the deck, clutched 
my hands on the railing, with head protruding forward to 
the edge of the vessel, and proceeded to ' ' give up the 
ghost." By the time we were in sight of Fairport I felt 
much better. And let me say here, that did me more good 
than lobelia, or all the doctor's medicine I ever took for an 
emetic. 



190 PION'EEK SKETCHES. 

That steamboat, the G. P. Griffith, on her next trip up 
the lakes, when near Erie, went down with 300 German 
emigrants (steerage passengers) l^y taking fire in her hold 
through the carelessness of those passengers. As the reader 
may recollect, when the fire was discovered the steamer 
was headed for shore; but the fire had made such headway 
that the vessel was soon in flames, and those of the passen- 
gers who were not drowned by jumping into the lake were 
roasted alive. The crew and some few others reached shore 
in the small boats. This was one of the greatest holocausts 
on our lake marine. 

Arriving at my Uncle Albert Powell's, I found Cousins 
Edgar and John were on the lakes and not expected home 
for some weeks. After making a three or four-day \isit I 
began to feel tip-top. One day, while on the wharf over 
the river at Cleveland, I noticed a. canal boat loading cop- 
per, bound for Portsmouth, on the Ohio River. This copper 
was of the simon pure, from the mines of Hancock & 
Houghton, Lake Superior, and was in large flakes, weigh- 
ing many hundred pounds each. . The captain made me an 
ofler to go a trip with him, which I accepted and assisted in 
loading the boat. Then we started for Portsmouth. 1 
soon found that this canal captain was more mulish than 
manly, and I left him at Akron. There I met one Hiram 
Force, who was engaged in a wood business at tliat phice, 
with wh(mi 1 engaged to help in the l)usiness. He and his 
pleasant family proved much more congenial than the canal 
captain during my sojourn with them for six Aveeks. 

At the close of lake navigation I returned to ClcAeland 
and found Cousin Edgar at home and John at Indiana, to 
remain for the winter. After a short visit in Cleveland I 
had the good luck to get a boat for Erie, the Keystone 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. U) 1 

State, .she being the last boat down the hikes, hite in De- 
cember, affording me a much ehea})er and pleasanter ride 
than the stage coach. 

At Erie I took the stage home. Having received let- 
ters, during my absence, from some of my schoohiiates, 
the same afternoon of my return I visited our school" and 
was 2:lad to find our old mates all right, enjoying the even 
tenor of life in their •• happy days.*' A brief account of 
my adventures was demanded, and I was looked upon as 
something of a traveler. 

The next morning I was on hand and took my place 
in my old class. Before long I was fairly sailing tiu-ough 
the diagraphs of Cobb, syntax of Kirkliam and the knotty 
problems of Dayboll, etc., all of wdiich, for some reason, 
seemed more pleasant to me at the old district school than 
the more modern regime in schools of later years. 

The following summer and fall a select or high school 
was taught in the neighborhood, which I attended. That 
winter I taught school near Conneautville. In the spring I 
bought a three-year-old colt of Samuel Brainard to mate 
one that my father had, for which I was to give three 
months' work, commencing the first of April. I did the 
work and got the colt. In June I contracted to cut some 
wood, wherein I gained time, enal )ling me. jibout the mid- 
dle of June, to go into Townseud's clover hay-field at good 
wages, where I was engaged the first of July. My sister 
Cornelia, Cousin John and his aftianced and his .sister, 
Electa Powell, called in a carriage for me to accompany 
them to my father's. With a spanking team, we had a 
pleasant, lively spin of ten miles in one hoiu- and arrived 
at our fathers domicil. 



192 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

For my part, I had no objection, at that time, for a 
good time for a few days to come. This we proceeded to 
have, as the time Avas rolling by. We stopped for nary a 
cloud to roll by, but attended the Fourth of July ball at 
Conneautville. Three or four days later A. J. Brown and 
wife, of Alleghen}^ College, came and a dance must follow, 
which was kept up until a late hour. Prof. Munson, of 
Tennessee, arrived about that time and said he was anxious 
to get teachers to accompany him to Tennessee. Arrange- 
ments were made, and in a few days we started for the 
Sunny South. 



CHAPTER XLI. 



THE SUNNY SOUTH. 




DOWN THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI— TEACHEBS' INSTITUTE AUGUST, 
1850— BOLTON & DICKENS, SLAVE DEALERS— SCENES — SCHOOL 
TEACHING — SAD DEATH OF BROWN. 

PARTY consisting of Professor Munson, 
A. J. BroAvn, of Allegheny College, and 
wife; Miss Ball, the Misses Williamson of 
;^^^\:^ Linesville and Spring, Crawford County, 
Pa. , and the writer, started for the Sunny South in July, 
1850. It w^as a rather unpropitious time of the year for 
northerners to go South, but the professor and a schoolmate, 
Kingsley Clark, had been engaged for a year past teaching 
school and had announced in the Memphis papers that a 
teachers' institute would he held in August, and it being 
the first ever held in Memphis Mr. Munson must return and 
was anxious to take teachers back with him, hence the reason 
of our party going South at that time. 

We took conveyance from Linesville by w^agon across 
the country to Ashtabula, Ohio, where the Lake Shore 
Railroad terminated at that time, and took the train for 
Cincinnati. The Lake Shore from Ashtabula to Cleveland 
was very rough, the dust flying over everybody. We 
arrived at Cincinnati that evening, and found the mos- 
quitoes plenty and very pugnacious near the Ohio River 
that night. 

The next morning we noticed the steamer Silas Wright 
had out her boards — "For Memphis and New Orleans this 
13 



1 94 PIOXEF.K SKE TL 'IIES. 

day." Our party went aboard the steamer, expecting soon 
to be on our way, but the next morning found us still at the 
Cincinnati wharf, and so on until the morning of the fourth 
day, when the steamer left her moorings and wie steamed 
down the l)eautiful Ohio, full of hope and anticipating a 
a i)leasant future. An interesting trip it was to be. On 
arriving at the locks at Louisville and while the steam 
l)oat was locking through, we had a desire to see the 
T-foot 9-inch giant. Porter. We called at his place and 
inquired if the giant was home. The clerk replied in the 
affirmative, but after waiting some time and no giant 
appearing the clerk informed us that if Ave wanted to see 
him w^e must buy something. Seven glasses of lemonade 
were at once ordered, that we might get a look at the Ken- 
tucky giant. 

Presently he appeared, and he was a wonderful look- 
ing object. He partook of his brandy, then he sat down 
on a hi o:h counter. The o;un that he used for shootinjj; ducks 
on the river was a load for the writer; his cane, a ponderous 
twisted varnished stick was big enough for a pile on which to 
build a saloon, or for an auger-shaped screw for Archimedes. 

The w^histle of the steamer informed as that she w^as 
through the locks and ready for her onward voyage down 
the river. We bid the Kentucky giant good bye, and went 
aboard. All went smoothly until we reached the Raleigh 
bar. Boat aground there for forty-eight hours. The next 
morning early the captain, with hawser and appliances, 
was determined to pull the steamer over the bar. All the 
crew were working the capstan and otherwise. A Dutch 
deck hand became sort of mulish ; the captain, with one 
stroke of his Hat hand S(;nt him sprawHng to the deck, then 
placed his foot on his licad, the blood spurting profusely 



PIOX'EER SKETCHES. 195 

from till' pe)()i' fellow's head. It was well that he wore slip- 
pers, or he would have crushed him. The captaiu made 
no friends by this cruel act, but demonstrated that he must 
be oljeyed in times of emergency. 

After breakfast, as time began to wear on monoton- 
ously, our party thought they would go ashore on the Ken- 
tucky side and get some blackberries; found some, but many 
of them were dried up on the bushes, which was quite a 
surprise, as they were only half grown ten days before, in 
Crawford County, Pa. 

The same day Miss Agnes Williamson told the cap- 
tain that a poor woman, a steerage passenger, was very sick 
and in destitute circumstances, and must have relief at once 
or she would die. The captain said there was a New Or- 
leans Spanish doctor aboard, and he would request him to 
see the woman. The kind hearted Agnes waited, l)ut there 
was no response from the doctor. She then asked the doc- 
tor for humanity\s sake to try to do something for the sick 
woman. He said his fee was $i.OO, which must be paid, 
then he would prescribe. Agnes informed the captain, 
who got angry and said the doctor was a Spanish hog and 
ought to be thrown overboard for refusing to aid the poor 
in distress. The captain's stentorian voice was heard by 
the doctor, and finally he prescribed for the sick woman 
with good effect. 

The Spanish doctor was on his return to New Orleans 
from St. Mary's College, Baltimore, where he had been to 
attend the closing exercises and the graduation of his 18-year 
old son, who was also going home to New Orleans. This 
young Spanish collegiate blood got exceedingly wroth over 
what the captain had said about his father, and he got up 



196 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

on his top gallant sail in the presence of the young lady 
whom he much admired (Miss Agnes), and said had he been 
present he avouIcI have shot the captain on the spot. The 
writer at once informed the young Spanish blood, for his 
safety to not let the captain hear of his remark ; if he did 
he would pulverize him ; that, early that morning, he had 
pulverized a bigger Dutchman than he was; that the cap- 
tain carried more bad medicine than both he and his 
father did. The young lady also advised him to quiet his 
nerves, which he did with amends, and in time to avert be- 
ing thrown overboard by the stalwart captain. 

The next morning our steamer cleared the bar and 
happily we proceeded on our way once more. A Louis- 
ania planter by the name of Garlic, aliout 60 years of age, 
who said he owned 100 slaves and a large plantation, had 
been up to that beautiful bay of Presque Isle, Erie, spend- 
ing June and July. He said he intended henceforth to 
enjoy life. He had plenty of money and niggers, he said; 
he apparently enjoyed himself, and imbibed freely fi'om 
the flowing bowl, and that, or something milder, was free 
with him to all. He took a fancy to Miss Ball and before 
our party left he proposed marriage to her and said he 
would convey to her lands and money sufficient for her 
lifetime, if she would marry him. I did not hear that the 
wedding came off, although I presume many a worse one 
has. 

Nothing of note occurred antil we reached Cairo, the 
mouth of the Ohio River, where vio, remained a few hoiu's. 
This southern point of Illinois would be a natural site for a 
city, but the rushing waters of the Mississij)pi and the 
Oliio would let no city stand. The 26th day of July, 1850, 
was a hot day in Cairo. A couple of Mexican greasers, 



PIONEER SKE TL 'HES. 197 

hatless, shirtless and socklcss, worldng as deck hands on a 
steamboat, I noticed appeared very warm. Presently one 
of them staggered and fell to the deck, overcome with the 
heat. He was insensible and fears were entertained that he 
would not survive, Ijut a couple of buckets of water were 
dashed onto him and after some minutes he revived, but in 
no condition to work. The steamer's whistle called us on 
board and the Silas Wright was soon steaming down the 
Mississippi, the Father of Waters, with no sand bars to 
ntercept her passage. ,. 

We had a pleasant ride of TOO miles on the Mississippi; 
nothing of special interest to note until we sighted Mem- 
phis, where a conspicuous sign with letters as big as a cart 
wheel, attracted our attention — "Bolton & Dickens, Slave 
Dealers." Shortly after arriving in Memphis Prof. Munson, 
Miss Ball and the Misses Williamson, went out to Mt. 
Zion to the school and the residence of Mr. Munson; Mr. 
Brown, wife and the writer, to Morning Sun, some 18 
miles from the cit}^ where our schoolmate Kingsley Clark, 
was engaged at teaching. The following week was the 
time set for the opening of the teachers' institute at 
Memphis, notices having been sent into the surrounding 
states, Mississippi, Arkansas and Kentucky, that we might 
strongly organize and have not only an interesting but a 
profitable time in discussing the best methods of teaching. 
We met and organized, the three states above mentioned were 
fairly represented, and a good time generally was had. 
During that week we had a good opportunity to step into 
Bolton & Dickens' slave market and see Avhat in the dickens 
Bolton & Dickens were doing, any hoAv. Well we did not 
have to wait long to see, buyers and sellers were present 
same as in an adjoining livery and sale stable. 



198 PIOXEER SKETCHES. 

"How mufh, sir, for this bLack gal? — 18 years old, 
sound, young, healthy, trim-hmbed, and many days' work 
in her. Profitable investment for any man. One thousand 
dollars I'm offered. Say $1,200— I'm offered. Must have 
$1,500. So she goes at 15; it is $1,500 I'm offered— once, 
twice — gone at $1,500.'" 

Other sales were made, trading females for males to 
suit the demand, hiring out slaves at 75 cents per day after 
the manner that the liveryman near by trafficed in his stock. 
Separations, by sale, took pface in families, which seemed 
still more cruel. A bright-eyed little woolly -headed boy, 
eight years old, was separated fi'om his mother, she sold to 
go on a Louisiana plantation and the little fellow to go to 
Mississippi. The mother clasped her arms around her little 
boy, kissed him and said, ' ' We are going to be separated, 
my dear boy, but if I never see you again, my darling boy, 
I hope you will meet your mamma in heaven. "" Then the 
poor slave woman sobbed and wept bitterly. 

This W' as too much for my tender heart, and I let the 
curtain drop and went aw ay from the scene, hoping to never 
airain witness a similar one. I was told, however, that the 
separation of children from their mothers was not a connnon 
practice. 

I passed on to another street, stej>})ed into a grocery 
store, saw a pail of water on a bench with a gourd in it and 
helped myself to a drink. Just then the rattling sound of 
a wagon, mules and tackle, was heard. A man alighted 
from the wagon and said to the grocer, ' ' I w^ant a ton or 
two of bacon ; have you got it for me?" "Yes, sir," was 
the reply. In the wareroom several cords of bacon were 
piled up on the floor. "How much a pound?" "Six cents 
for this pile; and that pile is damaged, which you can have 



200 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

at three cents.'' From the three-cent stock maggots were 
to be seen crawling out upon the floor. The Mississippian 
looked at it, rolling his cigar from one side of his mouth to 
the other. "Well, I'll take a ton from this pile at $60; it's 
good enough for a nigger; but if a grub knaws a hole 
through a darkey, I'll come back on you and get a load of 
the six-cent stock." The Ijacon was loaded into the pon- 
derous cotton racked wagon. The planter boarded the 
waofon, two darkies mounted the mules and drove off the 
six-mule team 

With massa and do bacou 
For de ole iDlantatioii 

in Mississippi. While some of the musical darkies seemed 
to enjoy life, which I suppose some of them did — so does a 
good horse in good hands. 

But there is nothing in human slavery commendable, 

The least said in its favor is damnal)le. 

Selling men and Avomen upon the auction block, 

To a better impulse of the soul it sends a cruel shock. 

The end of the week closed the institute and our party 
began to look out for situations. Aaron J. Brown engaged 
to teach a select school in Memphis. Mr. Munson secured 
situations for Miss Ball and Kate Williamson. The writer 
engaged a school for Agnes in the McLean district, three 
miles from Memphis, on the Charleston road, which proved 
remunerative to the teacher, and was in a very i)leasant 
locality, also. The writer then went out of the city eight- 
teen miles and took up a sul)scripti()n school, starting in 
with five scholars, but soon had 2 5 . Pike and Day boll's arith- 
metic was the kind used there. I, however, rode into the 
city and purchased Adams" Revised, with which I supplied 
my school. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 201 

I cannot attempt to write a fall tlesuription of the 
South as I saw it, as I promised at the start I would not 
tire my readers with long-spun articles. 

A. J. Brown, being a good writer, was solicited l)y 
G. W. Brown, editor of tlie Conneautville (Pa.) Courier^ 
to write for his paper, which was an Abolition sheet at that 
time. Copies of the Courier w^ere sent South. Mr. Mc- 
Lean picked up one of them, taken by Agnes, whose home 
was at his house. He read an article setting forth southern 
customs — touching upon slavery, of course, — and other 
opics of the South. Mr. McLean preserved the paper. 
In the next issue of same paper he noticed another article, 
signed A. J. B. He took the paper to Memphis and found 
that A. J. B. was the high school teacher, from the North, 
and he and others said that it would never do. An indig- 
nation meeting was called. Mr. Brown's letters were read 
from the Conneautville Courier. It happened that McLean 
and others there most interested did not know Brown, who 
sat by the side of a lawyer whom he knew; and the la^^yer 
iidvised Brown, after hearing the expressions of the meet- 
ing that " We will fix him, " "we'll tar and feather him,'" 
"A school teacher kept by us to write about our southern 
customs and privileges," "we'll fix him so he'll mind his 
business," to go out the window in the rear. Brown did so, 
and escaped to Holly Si)rings, Miss. , thus ending his school 
and his fine prospects in Memphis. His wife followed him 
in a few days; cdso a German merchant tailor, an accjuain- 
tance of Mr. Brown. Shortly afterwards, while Mr. Brown 
was at l)reakfast, he sank back in Ixis chair and died. A 
short time afterwards Mrs. Brown married the German tailor. 

Elijah Brown, one of the pioneers of Linesville, Avas 
the father of Aaron; and on his return from Mississippi 



202 rroxEER sKErciiEs. 

the circumstances connected with the death of his only son 
were ahnost unbearable. He had spent quite a large sum 
of money in educating Aaron, and had the satisafaction of 
knoAving that lie was one of the best scholars in Western 
Pennsylvania. But his hoi)es were l)lasted, his heart bro- 
ken, and this caused him also an untimely death. 

The writer returned North the following winter, as he 
cared not to wear out chill fever again the coming spring, 
which was prevalent at that time in southwestern Tennessee. 
Our friend Clark returned to Albion, Pa., the following 
spring in pool' health, and lingered a few months and died. 
The rest of the party remained in the South. 

In justice to the Southern people I will say for myself 
that I never lived among a more benevolent and kind 
hearted people — never was treated better than during my 
stay, my sickness and convalescence. Dr. Garner, on my 
being taken down with typhoid fever, took me from my 
boarding place, saying that there was plenty of room and 
servants at his place for the young boy in a strange land, 
and I should have the best care, which, I think, saved my 
life. True, he w^as a wealthy man, but he was equally as 
kind and big hearted. He would not allow me to pay a dollar 
for all of the care ])estowed upon me during my six week's 
sickness. The doctor has gone on to the great beyond — 

AVhere noiu' otlicrs can, 

Except the true and God-like man. 

A great barbecue came off, and I had got on my 
feet again, and able to attend. It was held in a grove of 
fine primeval oak trees, a nice grassy plat, a bounteous table 
spread through this beautiful natural })Mrk a<listanceof forty 
rods. A large mass of people assembled, not a buggy or 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 208 

carriage on the ground: all came on horseback or on foot. 
There were four speakers from Memphis. Two of the ora- 
tors represented the Whig and two the Democratic party. 
General Winfield Scott was the Whig nominee antl Frank- 
lin Pierce the Democratic nominee. One Whig and one 
Democrat spoke liefore dinner, the other two orators used 
up the afternoon throwing their political bomb shells, and 
everything passed ofi' in harmony. Fine old whisky was 
upon the speaker's stand, that he could wet down the ac- 
customed frog as he began to sing in the throat of the 
speaker. The speakers apparently felt pretty well, and the 
wit, oratory and sarcasm flowed like oil from an exploded 
oil tank on Oil Creek. The barbecue closed, and everybody 
was apparently satisfied with the day's doings. Well they 
might be, for it was the best I ever attended. 

A large sum of money was expended, and great pains 
taken to make all comfortable. My friend. Dr. Garner, 
contributed for this feast the fattest and best four-year-old 
steer he had, and seven large, fat lambs. Others contribu- 
ted from the best of their flock of lambs. When the 
Southern people go in for a good time they are going to 
have it, in any branch of business, of which the Northern 
people are well aware. Up to this date and later, the 
institution of slavery had always existed among them, and 
the mass thought it was a coherent naturjd right for them 
to forever hold. Under similar circumstances, in all proba. 
bility, the majority of the people of the North or any other 
nation, would have probably acted likewise, as the common 
people should not be blamed for the action of its leaders. 

If every cham[)ion })olitician who advocates Avar felt 
that he had got to go to the front and face the enemy, 



204 PIONEER SKETCHES 

many would no doubt change their lingual tactics. Well, 
the great sectional unpleasantness is over and we may 
expect to see the South continue to grow and prosper more 
than ever. Her resources, timber, harborage, soil and 
minerals are wonderful, and we may confident!}" look for- 
ward to great results in revenues from vast commercial 
enterprises yet to be created in the Sunny South. 



CHAPTER XLII. 



THE NEW YEAR. 




EVOLVING TIME has ushered in another year, 
The year of 1891 is akeady here, 
Its checker boards are out, upon which to play 
Our fortunes at the present and a future day. 

The boards are broad, and will contain 

Space sufficient to play your game; 

Should vou leave off about where you begun, 

And have not played the card that won, 

Don't be discouraged with your lot, 

For there's plenty of room at the top; 

It's harder to climb to top of the ladder's round 

Than when up to climb the ladder down. 

And when you commence to play, 

Never allow yourself to say 

That you can never win — 

Begetting failure as you begin. 

Persevere, shift, look toward the favored spot. 

Always plenty of room at the top. 

Lay out your line of work like the prophetic seer, 

Work, and reap your reward the coming year. 

A persevering will with good ambition. 

Places one in the best position; 

For oft riches takes wings and flies 

Long before its victim dies. 

The rich born man is often left in a sad condition 

Without self-reliance, money, or ambition, 

When tossed upon the sea of life he fails. 

Like a ship at sea without her sails. 

Those who have started aright upon the route. 

Will meet others who have turned about. 

Please kindly aid them with words of cheer, 

To start aright upon the New Year. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 




OUR FOREST HOME — MAREIAGE— ORGANIZING A SCHOOL DISTRICT — 
PHRENOLOGICAL LECTURES — WHOLESALE BLESSING. 

Y FATHER purchased 100 acres 
of timljer land, in the Chew Tract, 
fr(^m John Reynolds, of Mead- 
ville, the agent. This land Avas 
situated in Spring township, 
about two miles east of the Con- 
neautville road, adjoining the 
Old Fleming Lot, it being the 
first parcel sold from the Chew 
Tract. 

There was a great demand for whitewood, white ash 
and cucumljer logs, delivered on the bank of the canal, 
about two miles from the timl)er. 

Good sleighing came on, when, with my father and a 
span of horses and a sled, axes and cross-cut saw, I set out 
for the wood and commenced to cut and haul logs to mar- 
ket. That business became general throughout Crawford 
and Erie counties, though many cut their whitewood and 
cucumber logs into chair plank, one and five-eight inch 
])oards and cohunns. Ash was cut into one and four-inch 
plank, and largely used in the manufacture of oars, for 
which Crawford and Erie counties were celebrated as grow- 
ing the best asli timber in America. 

The following spring I commenced to clear off a few 
acres of the timber on tlie southwest corner of the above 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 207 

tract, pre})ar:itory to sowing fall wheat, and for pasturing 
and meadow land. The next season I cleared a few more 
acres. 

On September 7, 1853, 1 married a Miss Malvina Salis- 
bury, of Girard, and soon after moved on to my new farm 
and continued in the lumber business. The next }X'ar my 
father sold his oJd homestead and made a tour through Illi- 
nois and loAva, but made no purchase there. Those prairies 
looked too treeless to suit him and he came back satisfied. 
He wanted the place that I occupied. I then Ijought 75 
acres adjoining east, on which was a small clearing, where 
I built a dwelling house and removed, father and family 
occupying the place I left. Others had settled in the 
neighborhood, a steam saw-mill was built near Ijy, and the 
roads improved. 

We saw the growing necessity for a school in that new 
settlement. I drew up a petition, which was signed and 
presented to the township board of education, to set us off a 
school district. It was granted, as was also the sum of 
$300, to be paid by the township after the completion and 
occupancy of the building. That aj^jpropriation, of coiu'se, 
was insufficient to build the house, as material was high; 
but father and I took the job to build the school-house, 
with a small donation in labor and material from the resi- 
dents, and by donating $50 each we completed the build- 
ing, and sister Cornelia taught our first school at Mill Grove. 
We had but one child to send to school, nevertheless our 
boy must have a school to go to, and that one was only 
aljout twenty rods from our door. 

We also needed a place to hold meetings of diflerent 
sorts, lectures, etc. One day while I was hauling logs a 
reverend looking gentleman appeared on the scene, whom I 



208 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

discovered to be an old friend, Delancy Barnes, who said 
he had come to give us a series of lectures on phrenology. 
"All right,'' said I, and notified our teacher to have the 
scholars inform their parents of the lecture that night. I 
had not seen the professor for ten years, when I heard him 
preach at Jerusalem — not the Jerusalem of the Jews, but 
Jerusalem near Jericho — the Jericho situated near Father- 
town, on the Conneaut Creek, two miles south of the 
ancient city of Tighthole, Crawford count}'. Pa., and I have 
no doubt that the reader will know where I mean. We had 
a very good house that night, and a very interesting lecture 
from Prof. Barnes. We passed the hat around and the 
audience chipped in quite liberally, especially J. F. Wood- 
ard, who alwaj^s took an interest in i)hrenology. 

At the dinner table I asked the elder to ask the blessing, 
which he did. At supper I made the same request. He 
responded and followed with a story. Said he: "I was 
acquainted with two preachers in Connecticut — former 
schoolmates — one of whom removed to Illinois, where he 
became a successful farmer. In the course of a few years^ 
the Connecticut preacher visited him. When it was noticed 
that the farmer did not ask a blessing at each meal the 
preacher asked him why he had fallen from grace, to which 
he replied that he had prospered in his new calling, and 
when he gathered in a crop he returned thanks to the Lord 
for the same in a wholesale manner, and he thought that 
suited better than to do a retail business." By this I was to 
understand that it was not necessary to ask him to return 
thanks at each me>al. 

Prof. Barnes remained with us all the week, with a 
full house each night. His lectures were interesting, and 
he was considered an expert in l)hl■enolog3^ 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

LUMBERING. 

AX INCIDENT — SHIPPING LUMBER TO ERIE, BUFFALO, TROY AND 

ALBANY. 

^^ HAD COME to like lumbering better than anything 
Jt^ else and hailed with joy the advent of the coming 
dx snow, a foot or two deed, for Christmas and the 
New -Year, that we might haul the logs that we had 
previously been skidding on the Wash. Wyethc place, a 
mile or so away in the woods, where we had that winter 
and on our own place about 1,000 whitewood, cucumber 
ash and maple logs to get out. 

One morning early in December, we started out to the 
woods with several hands and our trusty yoke of cattle, 
"Dave and Charlie,^' as good a logging team over which 
ever was drawn a braid; they were large enough for all 
practical purposes and it took a stout yoke and chain to 
hold them. One David Fifer, a Teutonic gentleman, was 
helping me that day. I told him to cut down a small-sized 
beech tree that was standing near by. Presently I looked 
up and saw to my dismay that he had girdled the tree 
completely around like a rabbit does a peach tree to kill it, 
and as this tree leaned directly toward my cattle, this 
Dutchman had girdled it to kill them. The tree w'as 
already going; I sprang as near to the cattle as I dared, at 
the same time motioning and speaking to them to back — 
only one step more; bat the tree struck Old Dave's head 
and brought him to the ground. When the poor animal 

14 



210 PIONEER SKE TCHES. 

raised up his head, bleeding profusely, one horn was 
knocked off close to his head, leaving a stub of the pith 
(inside of the horn) protruding from the ox's head. Well 
the poor creature wore a sad look, and I thought he looked 
more intellio;ent than the Dutchman at the time. 

With a cloth from the dinner basket and a coat lining, 
I tied up the wound the best I could. On arriving home I 
renewed the bandage and applied some warm tar. After 
three weeks Old Dave was again ready for work. 

The sleighing during this time was excellent and the 
logs were being briskly moved. We had 300 or 400 logs 
skidded. Some of the whitewood logs were three feet or 
more in diameter, sufEcicnt to cut 1,000 feet of lumber 
twelve feet long, which would make quite a load; but m 
coming to smaller ones, two feet or so, with long bolsters 
on the sleds, three of these logs were placed on the bottom, 
two logs top of them, then one log top of all — six — these 
making a nice load. 

Cur road w as on a down grade principally, from the 
woods to the canal, where they were mostly rafted to 
Tuckersville, foot of the eleven-mile level, to be sawed into 
lumber. 

I shipped that season about 800,000 feet of whitewood 
and ash lumber. My first consignments were to Janes & 
Sanbor, Erie ; later to Farmer & Scachard, Mixer & 
Smith, and John A. Pitts, Buffalo; Francis Beebe, Troy, 
and Stephen Clark and others, Albany, N. Y. 

I recollect the day that we were unloading a vessel load 
of lumber in the Niagara Basin for John A. Pitts' agricul- 
tural works. About 10 A. M. all the bells on the churches 
n the city simultaneously pealed forth the joyful tidings 



PIOXEER SKE 7 'CUES. 211 

that the Athmtic cable was hiid and in successful operation, 
that the American with a silent tongue could instantly talk 
with the European. 

One pleasant morning soon after, accompanied 1)y my 
wife, we took passage at Buffalo on the little steamer Arrow 
down the Niagara, making several stops at the Islands. On 
arriving within a couple of miles of the Falls the boat ran 
into Chippewa Creek, where, on the Canada side, we took 
the cars to the Falls. The view of Niagara Falls from the 
Canadian side is the best. Near by is situated those historic 
spots, Lundy's Lane and Chippewa battlefields, where, in 
1813 the best troops of America and England met to try 
their steel. True, the armies were not as large, as to the 
numbers engaged, as in many other conflicts, though nearly 
equal in number and the fighting was terrific. General 
Scott heard a British oflicer shout, "TheAmericans are good 
at a long shot, but can't stand the cold iron." He repeated 
this to his men, and called upon the 11th instantly to give 
the lie to that slander. They charged and the battle was won. 
General Brown was wounded in the early part of the engage- 
ment, and the command devolved upon Brigadier General 
Winfield Scott, who, it is said, covered himself that night 
with smoke, fire and glory. The loss on each side was 
about equal, and over one-third in each army were killed or 
wounded. 

It has been quite a long time — 78 years — since Eng- 
land has had any trouble with America, and I presume she 
has chosen the better part of valor — to keep hands off. It 
seems from our American conflict that America has cause to 
fear herself more than any other nation, and from the dear- 
ly bought lesson of the past our country will not be unmind- 
iul. 



212 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

But, to return to the lumber business : H. E. Salis- 
bury, assisted by his brother Tracy (my brothers-in-law) had 
set up a lathe in Michael's mill, near my place, and were 
engaged in turning setting poles, mower, reaper and wagon 
poles, for which I furnished them ash and maple lumber. 
After remaining there about a year, they removed to Albion, 
the former forming a partnership with R. McClellan, and 
for a couple of years done a large business manufacturiDg 
oars. They then removed to Edgerton, Ohio, where H. E. 
Salisbury formed a partnership with Wm. Webb, of New 
York, and engaged extensively in the manufacture of oars. 

I furnished on a short notice to John Hill, of Erie, a 
very difficult bill of lumber to help him out of a tight spot, 
in the construction of Farrar Hall, he having been disap- 
pointed by other parties ; also heavy material for the 
Methodist church, which could only be accomphshed liy 
working; nig-ht and dav. At that time I thought 1 could 
endure almost anything. 

The following year engaged with Howe & Clark, Erie, 
to superintend and sell lumber on the Elevator Dock. At 
the close of the season a partnership was formed under the 
name of Clark, Finn & Howe. The middle man I didn't 
like, so I quit them. In February I went to New York 
with Samuel Sherman. He was with Lathrop, Luddington 
& Co., 326-30 Broadway, a heavy jobbing dry goods firm. 
Sam brought a heavy trade to this house from his patrons 
in Erie, Crawford and Mercer Counties, Pa., and he had a 
good thing of it. 

I spent three weeks in the metropolis and returned to 
Buffalo, where Oliver Bugbee, a prominent lumber dealer, 
wanted to secure my services to look after his lumber 
business throughout Canada, Michigan and Ohio. I took 



PIONEER SKE TCHES. 213 

his oflfer. The previous fall Mr. Bugbee hud contracted 
with different parties in Canada, Michigan and Ohio, to 
deliver to him at certain places, to load on vessels or cars, 
pine, black walnut, whitewood, white ash and sycamore, 
cut to certain lengths and specified width and thickness, fol- 
which he had advanced them sums of money. This lum- 
ber was to be shipped to Albany, consequently Mr. Bug- 
bee did not see much of it at either end of the route ; 
hence the importance of getting the amount of the first and 
second clear in a cargo that the contract called for. Having 
had experience in the business it suited me, and in the 
course of a few days I went from Suspension Bridge into 
Canada,, then took the Grand Trunk Railroad to Detroit, 
thence to Port Sarnie and across country to Wheatley and 
Two Rivers. At the latter place a quantity of whitewood 
and ash lumber was scowed down the river to its mouth, 
which was closed by a sand bar, and the scow had to be 
hauled over the sand bar six or eight rods by stays, the 
scow being placed on greased poles. When over the sand 
bar the lumber was reloaded on the scow and a line struns: 
half a mile from the shore out into the lake to a vessel. The 
scow was kept under this line and the Canucks would pull 
on it and thus propel the scow out to the vessel, on which 
they would load the lumber and return for another load. 
This was a tedious way of loading a vessel, and suited 
the Canadians better than the Yankee. 

Out in the lake where the vessel lay was arranged a 
fish pond, from which two fellows brought in two large 
sturgeon, weighing 60 and SO pounds respectively. The 
men and fish were in a skiff near shore. While sitting lazily 
in the skiff a wave rolled it. The sturgeon rolled to one 
side, and over went the skiff, dumping its occupants into 



214 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

the lake. It required several dives by the fishermen to get 
the fish, but they got them out and hauled them ashore. 

This place was situated about fifteen miles east of 
Point Au Pelee, Ontario, Canada. At Wheatley, the place 
where Bugbee had contracted for a lot of sycamore lumber, 
cut to order, to be used for to])acco boxes, the party, to 
whom he advanced $500 for lumber, was a low-lived, 
drunken, shiftless wretch. The people living about there, 
with some exceptions, were a bad mixture — half-breeds, 
French and Indian — shiftless, lazy, and the carriage that 
they rode in was a dog cart, and some of the indolent lived 
on air and whisky. At St. Claire we found several hundred 
thousand feet of nice pine, and run well into the' uppers, 
got out as per contract by Burrows & Oaks, Detroit, who 
were gentlemen, and the place seemed more like God's 
country than did- the former. 

J. C. Farwell, of Detroit, another gentleman with 
whom we had transactions, was on deck and understood his 
business and seemed desirous to render unto C»sar the 
the things that were his. J. C. Varnum, of Mansfield, 
Ohio, another with whom we had to come in contact, 
was anxious to do the right thing; but he had some 
difficulty in filling his contract. For black walnut 
counter top lumber to be cut 1 inch thick, 22 to 82 
inches wide and 16 feet long, and free from all defects, 
250,000 feet out of 1,000,000 feet of good walnut he could 
not fill. He tried hard to do it, but coukln't. When he 
had to furnish 300,000 feet of wahiut in diftcrent lengths 
and widths, that was a horse of a diftcrent size and color. 
Varnum filled a i)art and bought out of a i)ortion of his 
contract. This lumber was got on the ]VIiami & Wabash 
Canal region, delivered to and shipped by us from Toledo, 
Ohio. 



CHAPTEK XLV. 

Recruiting -PROSPECTING— LEASING coal lands — the cox farm, 

M'FATE — DRILLING FOR COAL — MY RETURN — DEATH OF MY SISTER — 
REMOVAL — DEATH OF OUR SON, EDWIN — PROSPECTING ARMSTRONG 
ANU BUTLER COUNTIES — LKASE AND PURCHASE— OIL BUSINESS — 
BEAR CREEK PROPERTY— SALE OF TIBIBER LANDS — DEATH OF A 
BHOTHER-IN-LAW — GRAIN AND FLOUR SHIPBIENT — DROP IN OIL 
LANDS — DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY— INDIANS — PRISONERS RE- 
LEASED — BRADY'S BEND 

N SEPTEMBER, 1861, while engaged 
in Erie County, Pa., recruiting volun- 
teers for the 111th Kegiment at my 
own expense in time and money, I 
had reason to become indignant at the 
treachery of some of its officers, 
therefore I returned to prospecting in 
Lawrence and Mahoning counties, and 
ere long I leased the Cox Farm and 
secured some very fine specimens of 
block coal from a shaft in said farm, which is situated about 
one and a-half miles from the Harbor l)ridge, about seven 
miles above New Castle, on the Shenango River. I had 
also leased the McFate coal bank, near the river, and put 
it into operation. It was a coal of different formation from 
that of the Cox Farm, yet it sold readily in the neighbor- 
hood, and at New Castle and Pulaski for fuel purposes. 
C. G. Carver, of Sharon, bought a one-half interest in the 
Cox lease for $2,000, paying ${\()0 down, and tlrilling soon 
commenced. The output was found at that time insufficient 
to warrant the great outlay necessary for mining and shi[)- 
ping the same, and the Cox Farm was al)andoned. 




216 F/O.VEER SKETCHES. 

In November I learned that sister Cornelia was very 
ill. I returned to Spring to her bedside. She lingered a 
few days and died. 

In a few days I returned, with my wife and two chil- 
dren, to Lawrence county. On the 10th of March following 
Edwin, our youngest son, died. In May of that year we 
returned to Spring and remained there that year. 

In February, 1863, I made a prospecting tour through 
Armstrong, Clarion and Butler counties, Pa. I made some 
leases at the latter place, near Martinsburg; also purchased 
the Samuel Meals Farm, 200 acres, for $(5,000. 

The oil business having been for some yeai'S in full 
blast on Oil Creek and contiguous thereto, was then extend- 
ing up and down the Allegheny and Clarion rivers and 
other places. At Parker's Landing a gusher was struck and 
the oil business began to boom on the Allegheny. Specu- 
lation ran wild. 

Through every gulch and ravine, 

Over hill-top, valley and t^treuni, 

Most every man had oil on the brain, 

And to liear liim rattle and swell would give you pain. 

But such is life, and we have ))een constrained to 
believe that as oil can be applied to soothe or calm the 
turbulent waters, it can also be applied to fuddle the l)rain. 

In April, 1865, about the time of the assassination of 
Abraham Lincoln, the bottom began to fall out of the oil 
sp(^culation. It had for years become, so to speak, a bad 
.sjioke in the wheel of fortune for many. Hundreds of 
thousands of dollars of speculative oil transactions were 
carried on, by })aper and tictilious charts representing oil 
interests in close proximity to good producing oil territory. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 217 

The unwary man or woman in distant cities, eager to 
become suddenl}^ rich, would l)ite the bait like a sucker, 
and in many cases thej^ found that the seller knew no more 
about the merits of his oil territory than did an ordinary 
horse about the science of geology, 

I had shown the Martinsburg property to one J. W. 
Spader, of Chicago, who said he and his brother would take 
it for $J:0,000 as soon as he could return to Chicago and 
make arrangements, and I felt in disposing of that property 
that he would have a better bargain in the transaction than 
I. However, while awaiting results, I kept my eye on the 
smaller fry, and had some timber lands, taken on 
refusal, to sell, adjoining my home. One day in Mead- 
ville I saw ex-Sheriff Brooks coming down Water Street; 
I asked him if ho knew anybody who wanted to buy some 
good timber land in Spring, not as an oil speculation, but 
simply on its merits. He thought for a moment, looked 
up street and said: "There (;omes a man, he has money 
from the sale of a farm, try him." "If it's a go, $100 to 
you.-' He introduced me to the man — J. M. Beatty — and 
moved on. I told him what I had to sell and that my time 
on the property would expire in forty-eight hours, after 
which I could not offer him the lands at the same figures. 
He asked me who I knew, in the city and I named several, 
among them Sheriff S. G. Krick, Banker Gideon Mosher; 
that ^\'as sufficient. We stepped into Mosher's bank, told 
him what I had to offer Mr. Beatt}-; the banker readily 
assured Mr. Beatty that the transaction would be all right; 
Mr. Beatty handed over $500 to Ijind the bargain and came 
on Monday to sec the premises and was pleased with the 
lands. We made arrangements with the owners, J. F. 
Woodard and Morton Cornell, to go to Meadville. where 



218 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

the proper transfers were made. By the terms of that sale 
Mr. Beatty's greenbacks were nearly equally divided between 
the original land owners and the seller. 

A few days later I received word that my brother-in- 
law was lying very ill at Edgerton, western Ohio. I soon 
started for that place, but before leaving the railway sta- 
tion learned that he had expired. However, my wife and I 
went on, and after a few days reached Butler, and met some 
relatives. I then went to Chicago, and found my friend 
Spader unable to come to time on his land contract for very 
good reasons. 

I bought a car load of flour and a couple of car loads 
of oats for the Oil City market, with a view to paying my 
expenses and something more. The flour and grain were 
shipped via the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad. There 
was such a rush of business over that road at that time that 
my consignment, with others alike unperishable, was laid 
over and side-tracked three weeks at Leavittsville, Ohio. 
However, when it came, on account of the rush and mud 
at Oil City, I stopped it at Franklin, Pa., where a sale 
was made, realizing first cost and freights, with a promise 
of considerable! more. After a while the buyers left for 
Buffalo, and I followed them, effecting a settlement as best 
I could. In those days the white man in the oil regions 
was uncertain. 

General Lee having surrendered to General Grant and 
Johnson to Sherman, the Rebellion closed and the great 
Lincoln assassinated, there was a great change — a great 
change also in prices of most all commodities, and this sud- 
den collai)se was not more keenly felt throughout the whole 
country than in the oil regions. The l)ott()m generally was 
knocked out of the sale of oil buids. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 219 

During the spring of lS(i4 I fitted up a couple of 
coal banks at Miller's Eddy on the hill side of the Alle- 
gheny River, about live miles below Parker's Landing, ob- 
taining the use of river boats to load with coal for paying 
the tow bill of said boats to Oil City, there to be loaded with 
oil by the owners and floated down the river to Pittsburg. 
Before the Valley Eailroad was built this sort of boating 
was a gi"eat industry on the Allegheny. 

I started a coal yard near the ferry landing at Oil City, 
where I could readily sell the coal at that time as it came 
from the mines unscreened, at fifty cents per bushel. Oil 
Creek gipers would come alongside our coal boat at Oil 
City and take aboard from 200 to 500 bushels and tow up 
Oil Creek to Cherry Run and other places and sell the coal 
at from $1.00 to $1.25 per bushel to drilling oil well opera- 
tors. M. S. Rouse, a former lumber dealer at Lockport, 
Erie County, bought an interest with me for $1,000, con- 
tinued for some months, when I purchased his interest and 
sold the same to a Nashville man for $2,000. 

During heavy rains the Allegheny and Oil Creek would 
suddenly rise several feet and play havoc with the boats, 
many of wdiich were tied up along the shores, and we at 
different times lost hundreds of l)ushels of coal. At one 
time, in the spring, we had two boats tied up at John 
Dunlap's coal chutes near Brady's Bend, to be loaded. Sud- 
denly the river rose, taking down quantities of flood wood, 
which lodged under the bows of the boats, parting the lines, 
and the boats went miles down the river. Some parties at 
Red Bank put out in a skift', boarded the boats and tied 
them in an eddy. A tug was procured to tow them back 
to the coal chutes, where they were loaded with coal and 
towed to Oil City. 



220 PIONEER SKETCHES 

Much property was yearly destroyed and damaged on 
the Allegheny, and thousands of barrels of oil were destroyed 
by flood and fire. 

In August, 1864, I think, light crude oil reached the 
highest price ever attained — $14 per barrel. I still held 
the Bear Creek property and George Selden, of Meadville, 
thought he could dispose of the same in New York, l)ut it 
was too late in the day to sell oil lands in the metropolis. 
Finally I did sell to a Mr. Smith, of New York, realizing 
the amount paid on it, but feeling at the same time that I 
was letting a bonanza slip through my fingers; yet knowing 
that payments would soon become due on the same, I let 
it go. This property in the course of a year was developed 
and yielded a large sum of money to the o})erator from the 
proceeds of its flowing oil wells. 

The lower Allegheny, its triljutaries, mountainous hills, 
valleys and table lands contiguous thereto, are wonderful, 
and rich in minerals throughout Butler, Armstrong and 
Allegheny Counties. 

One of the great iron plants of Pennsylvania was the 
Brady's Bend Iron Works. The iron ore, coal and limestone 
were mined on the company's premises and generally about 
1,500 laborers were required in operating the works. 

Just above the site of the iron works the famous Samuel 
Brady one night discovered a lot of Indians preparing a 
funeral })ile, on which to burn several Avhitc }n'isoners they 
had in captivity. He told them in the Indian tongue to 
wait until he came with his pale-faced prisoners and he 
would join them and they would maki? one job of it. About 
midnight Brady, with several trusteed scouts, forded the 
river just above the Indian camp, liberated the pi'isoners, 
surprised and killed several Indians, the remainder fleeing 
in terror. This incident gave to this jilace the memorable 
name of "Brady's Bend." 



CHAPTER XLVI. 




MINING AND SHIPPING COAL — TOWING BOATS —LOW STAGE OF WATER 
ON THE ALLEGHENY RIVER — PEGG'S CHUTE — CRAPO HOUSE — A 
REBEL LANDLORD— A LOYAL CONNECTICUT MAN— PALMY DAYS 
OF OILDOM. 

N THE EARLY DAYS keel boats 
were used on the Allegheny River, 
and the motive power was the oar, 
setting poles, and hooks to catch on 
to overhano-ino; branches of trees and 
walk from bow to stern, and thus jiro- 
})el the boat. Later, horses were 
brought into requisiti(m, which was a 
great improvement over the muscular and tedious mode of 
navigation. Yet it was a hard place for horse flesh. Tow- 
ing on the canal was no more to l)e compared to river tow- 
ing than riding upon a smooth road or over the mountain- 
ous hills, jolting along its rocky bed. The beach of the 
lower Allegheny is generally uneven and rocky. Frequently 
large rocks overhang and project into the river, so the 
horses must be ferried over to the other side to get a foot 
hold. 

In April, 186-i, as previously mentioned, having got 
the mines in order, consisting of laying in new tracks, driv- 
ing forward the main entry and rooming off into sohd coal, 
mined and shipped a boat load of 2,000 bushels, towed by 
the steamer Hawkeye on a good stage of water to Oil City. 
This first load was a test. I readily sold the coal at fifty 
cents per bushel, which I found left a good margin over ex- 



222 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

penses. I found, however, it was necessary to have a good 
team at the mines for use, and not depend entirely on hir- 
ing. Therefore, I went to Spring, Pa., purchased a good 
team and wagon and sent tlieni with driver to the mines. 
Returning, I engaged actively in mining and shipping coal 
to my yard at Oil City. There was a good stage of water 
most of the time that spring through April and May and 
up to the June freshet, aftbrding a good opportunity to get 
coal boats towed by steamers. 

In July I bought a river boat, 16x100 feet, and with 
about $100 in repairs put it in good condition. The low 
stage of water had come, when the motive power used on 
the Allegheny was horses and mules. On a bright morning 
in August, my boat l)eing loaded, my wife and sister 
thought they would like to go on our boat to Oil City, on 
their way home to Spring, Crawford County, that they 
might see the wild and picturesque scenery along the river, 
a distance of sixty miles, requiring a three days' trip. 

Three good horses were put on the tow line, two good 
river boatmen and a driver, myself as roustabout and 
captain of the giper, and ni}^ wife and sister composed the 
party. In due time we passed Bear Creek, Parker's Falls 
and the Clarion River. Everything went smoothly and we 
had a pleasant time the first day. About 10 o'clock the 
second day as we were entering Pegg's Chute (rapids) we 
saw a skiff containing a man, woman and young girl. The 
man was quite feeble, unacquainted with the river, and his 
skiff came shooting into the rapids of the chute, making 
directly for the bow of our boat. We all sprang forward 
to their assistance. Their skiff struck our bow violently, 
crushing and capsizing the skiff. The girl and woman 
floated along the left side of our boat and were quickly 



224 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

rescued. The man clung to his broken skiff, half filled 
with water, his face was as pale as death, caused by sickness 
and fright. The girl's bonnet and the woman's band box 
and some other trinkets floated down the river and one of 
my skiffs was quickly dispatched and the articles all secured 
by one of our boatmen. When the shipwrecked man had 
sufficiently come to his senses, he exclaimed, ''My God I 
am thankful to be thus saved, but where is our trunk V I 
told him that it was probably safe under the boat, when 
we commenced searching for it and found it firmly wedged 
under the boat by the force of the ra})id water. We 
finally got out the trunk in a nearly sound condition, 
except its contents, which were nicely sprinkled and ready 
for an ironing. 

We told the party that at first we expected to have to 
fish them out from under our boat, same as we did their 
trunk. Having two skiffs aboard the boat, I let the un- 
fortunate party have one of them in which to continue their 
journey to Hillville, which was to be left there for me 
with the enjoinder not to run again into Pegg's Chute, or 
any other rapids under the bow of a river giper. 

Our horses stood braced in their harness, the driver 
urging them to hold the boat taut while we were regu- 
lating the mishap, and putting the rescued party into the 
skiff, saw them again gliding on their way down the rapid 
river. 

The scenery was grand, its lofty hills towering above 
us on each side as we pass the "Indian God," a large rock 
projecting boldly out into the river, and thus named by the 
Indians from the shape of its head, neck, body and facial 
appearance. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 



22b 




THE INDIAN GOD. 

The next place of note was Patterson Falls. There it 
took some good pulling to ascend; but our team was equal 
to the occasion, and we passed up nicely. The next was 
Montgomery Falls. At this point I noticed one of the 
horses, a spirited animal, began pulling for her life, and 
commenced to choke. I called to the driver to stand upon 
the tugs and hold down the collar, but too late; the noble 
animal fell broadside, apparently dead. The tugs were 
quickly unhooked when she got up, trembling like an 
aspen, although recovering after awhile. 

In passing up Patterson and Montgomery Falls steam- 
ers towing coal boats frequently labor for hours, and many 
a good horse has been injured and killed in pulling over 
these falls. 

The hardest part of our trip w^as over and we got on 
pleasantly to Oil City, wdiere we arrived in good time the 
third day. From there my wife and sister took the cars 
for Meadville and Saegertown, thence by stage home. 

The coal being unloaded my boat was reloaded with 
oil for Kittanning, and at that time, about the 15th of 

15 



226 PIOXEER SKETCHES. 

August, 1864:, oil reached the highest price I ever knew in 
the history of Oil Creek — light crude was %\\ per l)arrel. 
Money was plentiful, and the Oil Creek boatman, or wag- 
oner, thought he was making poor ]5ay unless he made $10 
to $25 per day. Everyl)ody seemed to have money, conse- 
quently it made it pleasant to do Inisiness generally. 

An incident occurred at the Crapo House, Oil City, 
which I well remember. Mr. Crapo, the proprietor, a 
South Carolinian, after dinner made himself conspicuous 
in laudation of the South, and concluded with the remark 
that General Lee would bag General Grant. An Eastern 
man, an oil operator, being present, told him that he would 
not. Crapo replied that he would bet $5,000 that Lee 
would bag Grant in less than three months. The oil 
operator reached his left hand down into his duster coat 
pocket, took out a large roll of greenbacks, and said: 
"Here, sir, is $5,000 that says Lee cannot bag Grant." 
He further added: ''Perhaps you would like to cover big- 
ger stakes," and with his right hand he dove into another 
pocket and produced another roll of bills, saying: "Here 
is $5,000 more that says General Grant will capture 
General Lee. Now cover my pile or shut up." Crapo did 
not cover it. The oil producer then told Mr. Crapo that 
he had better go and keep tavern where his sympathies 
were — with the rebels. 

The Connecticut man was union to the core. He had 
struck oil and it was running smoothly and plentifully, 
creating a good batch of greenbacks daily, and he carried 
too many guns for the South Carolinian. The oil business 
Avas at its zenith at this time. It was the closing year of 
the palmy days of oildom. Money flew in exchange of 
leases, real estate and oil drilling. The connnon laborer, 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 227 

the teamster, the rig builder, the carpenter, the cooper and 
the oil driller, all came in for their share of the high wages 
paid for labor throughout the oil regions. 

There is no place on our continent where so much 
money was paid out, made and lost, during a period of ten 
years, as there was in Oil Creek and vicinity. There are no 
two spots on earth that arose so rapidly from country ham- 
lets to cities of 10, 000 souls, as Titusville and Oil City, march- 
ing at a lively gait in the busy humdrum of life, with 
comfortalile quarters for its citizens, the tourist, the pros- 
pector, the oil smeller and the operator, with convenient 
modes of transit by rail and stage; with spacious stores and 
machine shops, aftbrding the best goods in the market; 
schools and churches, a community of many intelligent and 
well-cultured people, who apparently enjoyed life. 




CHAPTER XLVII. 

LUMBER YARDS. 

MEADVILLE AND OIL CREEK — LEASING OIL LANDS AND OPERATING — 

DRILLING. 

OME MONTHS later I pnrchcased some city lots 
on the Huidekoper plot, Willow Street, Meadville, 
and built two dwelling bouses thereon the follow- 
ing summer. On a portion of these grounds I kept a 
retail lumber yard, and during the summer done some 
building by contract for J. Hanna and others. By the 
treachery of one G. G. Porter, of Meadville, in a lumbei 
transaction, I eventually lost a new farm of eighty acres in 
Sprinf, Pa., and if the said Porter's soul is still perambu- 
lating the rounds of earth, or has gone marching on, we 
hope he may fare, at least as well, as did Nebuchadnezzar — 
o-et a plenty of grass to eat — as many better men than he 
have lived and died in their realm, who did not pretend to 
deal squarely in the hardware business either. 

The next year, in July, I went to Oil Creek. At 
Spartansburg and vicinity I bought a lot of pine lumber; 
selected all widths of 10, 12, 15 or 18 inches, had the 
same ripped and split at Scott & Aiken's mill, and made 
into siding, making 2,000 feet of siding from 1,000 feet of 
inch hoards. I also purchased a lot of building material 
and oil well rig stuff and opened a lumber yard at Eou Se- 
ville, some live miles above Oil City, where I had a good 
trade and was doing well until late in the fall, when I was 
taken with a severe attack of sciatic rheumatism, with 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 229 

which I was confined some four weeks, reducing nic ahiiost 
to a skeleton. It seemed to me that I endured pain enough 
to kill a dog, this being the first real pain I had ever had. 

When I got able to attend to business again the 
building season, to a great extent was over, and I engaged 
in transferring coal across the Allegheny River from South 
to North Oil City for Messrs. Wagner & McConnell, with 
three to four teams. In Fel)ruary I was brought down 
with a lung trouble and did not get out of my house until 
the grass began to look green. 

That spring I leased the Morrison Farm, on the south 
8ide of the Allegheny, opposite Reno, and James Braden, 
of Franklin, and myself caused to be drilled on that farm 
the first oil wells. They were not very productive and I 
got rid of my lease as best I could, and afterward leased 
ten acres on the Dale Farm, Franklin, where I and family 
removed into a house I had built on said lease. A well 
was put down on the Dale Farm which proved to be a dry 
hole. In the meantime I got a lease on the Judge Mc- 
Calmot Farm which I sold and realized something from 
the same. In the fall, with my family, I removed to 
Titusville, the pleasantest place to live in the oil regions, 
Avhich, even at that time, was a good business place. I opened 
a wood and coal yard on Hobart's lot, corner Spring and 
Main Streets. Had a good trade fall and winter; sold 
1,200 cords of wood and 1,000 tons of anthracite and 
bituminous coal. Titusville, like some other oil towns, was 
a pleasant place in which to do business. At that day 
people did not stop to split hair nor banter long and dicker 
on a deal, and the people generally appeared to enjoy life. 
The time came, however, that there was a lull in l)usiness 



230 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

and a consequent drop in real estate. I recollect George 
Sherman's nice place, corner Spring and Washington 
Streets, costing over $9,000, which was afterwards pur- 
chased by Dr. Dunn at $1,800. The following June, when 
the wood and coal trade fell off consideral^ly, 1 removed 
my family to Spring, and in July I started for the Nortli- 
w'cst to look after some interests near Silver Islet, on the 
north shore of Lake Superior. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 




THE NOBTir SHORE— LAKE .SUPERIOR— THE MERCER PARTY— LAKE 
HURON— DANCING— SUMKER OVERBOARD— A RIDE OVER THE FALLS. 

N THE evening of July 19, 1875, the 
writer took passage on board the steamer 
Pacific en route for the north shore of 
Lake Superior. We left Cleveland about 
10 o'clock P. M. and had a pleasant ride 
that nifjht across to Detroit, arrivins: 
there at 7 A. M. The weather was dry 
and very hot, therefore the night hours 
were the most comfortable for the tourist. 

The Hon. Judges Stewart, Trunkey and McDermott, 
of Mercer, Pa., also took passage for the north shore, also 
a Mr. Sumner and companion, a mercliant tailor, whose 
name I have forgotten, of Akron, Ohio. Edward Learned, of 
Pittsfield, Mass., part owner of the North Shore Silver Islet 
Mines, daughter and son-in-law, were also among the goodly 
number of passengers on board. Our boat lay at Detroit 
nearly all day, affording ample time to all to visit the city. 
The two Akron gentlemen and a Quaker friend, a school 
teacher at Philadelphia, and myself took the Fort Street 
street cars to see something [of the city, Zach Chandlers 
fine residence, the Richardson Match Factory, the Smelting 
Works and other places of interest. 

As the Philadelphian and the Avritcr Avere conversing 
we noticed a sort of wild and sad expression on the face of 
Mr. Sumner, Avho was a fine-looking and well-dressed young 



232 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

man of about 24 years of age. We returned in time for 
dinner. Aliout 4 o'clock the steamer left Detroit, and we 
were soon under sail up the Ijeautifnl Detroit River, which 
added much to the comfort and delight of the passengers. 

We soon found the company of the legal trio from 
Mercer, Pa., very agreeable. Evidently they intended to 
enjoy their trip, as did Edward Learned, the Philadelphia 
schoolmaster, and the rest of the passengers generally. 
Still you would notice that strange sadness at times on the 
face of the gentlemanly Sumner. 

We had an excellent band of music on board, and its 
enlivening strains put in trim the fantastic toe of old and 
young, and on went the dance that beautiful starry evening 
on Lake Huron. The Hon. William Stewart, of Mercer, 
aged Y3, led tlie first dance gallantly with one of the best 
young lady dancers. For one of his age, he made a good 
appearance among the dancers. All who participated in 
the dance and the spectators enjoyed a pleasant time on 
this occasion. The dance was repeated every evening. 

Mr. Sumner, apparently more cheerful than usual, par- 
ticipated in the singing exercises that night on the hurricane 
deck. Our party retired about midnight, and on retiring 
Mr. Sunmer said to his Akron friend and traveling com. 
panion, "Should anything happen to me, I desire you to 
take care of my effects.'" His friend replied, "Most cer- 
tainly," and added, "There is nothing going to happen 
you, Sumner, for you are certainly looking better." 

The next morning when the breakfast bell rang Mr. 
Sumner was not to be found. A diligent search was made. 
His gold watch, clothing, money and baggage were all in 
})r()i)er })lace in his stateroom. An English Avoman and her 
daughter, who Avere steerage passengers, said they noticed 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 233 

a tall man come down stairs, about 2 o'clock, in stocking: 
feet, pants and shirt on, who looked wildly, and walked 
back to the stern of the boat. They did not see him return, 
and, feeling drowsy, thous^ht no more of it. 

We could only conclude that he went overboard to end 
his troubles. His companion said his sadness was caused 
by trouble with his newly married wife, and that he had 
started out with him to take this trip hoping: to relieve his 
troubled mind, as Sumner thought much of his beautiful 
looking wife, and her conduct was crushing him. 

This, a case of woman's infidelity to man; 
To know without experience one never can. 
His life he threw overboard in Lake Huron, 
For blasted hopes and love unenduring. 

The Akron man said he could not continue his journey, 
and as the boat pulled up to the wharf at Detour, on the 
Sioux River, he sadly took Mr. Sumner's effects and went 
ashore, to wait for the tirst returning boat. The pleasant 
trip which he had anticipated was turned into one of those 
sad pictures in the drama of life. 

While our boat was passing through the locks at Sault 
Ste. Marie, our old boy (Mr. Stewart), Judges Trunkey and 
McDcrmott thought they would like a little experience with 
the Indian in his bark canoe, and accordingly they took 
passage with "Lo" over the Sioux Falls, and they soon 
found they were bound to get their money's worth. They 
went like a shot through the Rapids and over the Falls, 
which delighted the Indians and apparently the Mercer 
party, for none seemed to enjoy it better than the Mercer 
73-year-old "boy," Judge Stewart, who, Avith the rest of 
the party, was as wet as a drowned rat. They came on board 
and changed their clothing, and said if they hadn't seen the 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 235 

elephant they had seen the Indian, and rode over the Falls 
in his birch bark canoe. 

In due time we reached Marquette, stopped there a 
couple of hours, and then steamed a little further up on 
the south shore to L'Anse, a new mining town. From 
there we were to round Ivewenaw Point, then cross the 
lake, touching Pie Island, thence to Silver Islet and the 
north shore in Thunder Bay. Before rounding Kewenaw 
Point we run up Portage River to the celebrated copper 
mines of Hancock & Houghton; and when up that crooked 
Portage River some fourteen miles, with pond lilies to 
nearly every foot, night came on, dark and l)lack, with a 
fog; as thick as the blue Canadian flies of the north shore. 
The captain concluded to just stay right there until morn- 
ing, then we steamed slowly out of that pond-lily, ram\s- 
horn stream and reached Thunder Bay all right, looked at 
Silver Islet (a very peculiar spot), got some nice samples of 
silver ore and amethyst, and sailed over to Prince Arthur's 
Landing (now Port Arthur), where we rusticated a week. 
The white fish there, when caught, are as cool as if they 
had come out of an Ashtabula refrigerator. 

On our return trip, on reaching the Sault Ste. Marie, 
the booming of cannon at the fort announced the presence 
of General Crook, the great Indian fighter and pacificator. 
That country is still quite a resort for the Indian. It cer- 
tainly has a sort of a wild and primeval look, and still 
abounds with plenty of fish and wild game, of which Lo 
is so fond. 

Wild red raspberries were very abundant there. Why, 
there was a Yankee up on the Sioux River who had a factory 
there with a lettered sign long enough to reach across a 
forty-foot barn— "Raspberry Jam!!" 



236 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

From red raspberries he made aud cauned 
And sold it all over the laud. 

He bought his berries at two cents per quart from the 
Indians, which was much cheaper than he could raise them. 

If one wants to get a cool sniff, a cool white fish — best 
in the world — or look upon a wild scenery, take a trip up 
around the north shore of Lake Superior in dog days. 

The islands in Lake Superior are numerous, the scenery 
grand. The copper, silver and iron mines are very rich; 
all things considered, the Lake Superior region is one of 
the most wonderful spots on our habitable globe. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 




Return from prince Arthur — lumbering— building — American 
insurance company of chicago — chas. l. currier's letter — 
k. a. butts, state agent— the prizes— the field — the bible 
and the hukting scene— general insurance agent — au- 
thor pioneer sketches, scenes and incidents of former 

DAYS. 

N MY EETURN from Silver Islet, Ame- 
thyst Harbor and Prince Arthur I re- 
moved my family in October to Ashta- 
bula, Ohio, where 1 did not wait for 
something to tmui up, but took, as it 
were, the bull by the horns and went to 
work to turn up something and went with 
Ben Gates into his potato field to turn 
up his potatoes, and with the Fargos to 

husk their corn and gather their apples to secure a supply 

of the latter for my family for the winter. 

My brother-in-law, Darius Sahsbury, had a fine lot of 
beech and maple timber standing on the flats on his farm on 
the creek, three miles east of Ashtabula, which he offered 
me to cut on shares to get a supply of wood for the comino- 
year. I commenced this in November, and in course of a 
few weeks had a fine lot of wood nicely corded up on the 
bank of the creek. In the fore part of December there 
came a deep snow and good sleighing. We engaged a team 
to haul off the wood. Salisbury hauled his share on to 
higher ground. My man delayed too long. A rain came 
on, taking off the snow, l)reaking up the ice, and then came 



238 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

a flood, and the mad waters and ice rushed down the Ash- 
tabula River and swept into Lake Erie all my wood except 
two cords which I had piled between two trees; but there 
was laid up for me the happy consolation, which I had ex- 
perienced on many former occasions, "Never to cry for 
spilt milk."'^ True, my loss didn't loom up largely in dollars 
but largely in hard knocks required in cutting the wood. 

J. H. Bugbee, of Ashtabula, was engaged in the lum- 
ber and wood business, with whom I contracted to work in 
its various branches that winter and most of the time dur- 
ing the coming year. Having bought a village lot, some 
portion of the time was devoted to getting material to build 
a dwelling house, and on rainy days and evenings making 
shingles, axe helves and whiffletrees, as I had not become 
an expert in corner grocery chit chat or bar room legends. 

In May of that year two barge loads of pine lumber 
entered Ashtabula harbor, consigned to the L. S. & M. S. 
Railroad Company. I was employed to hire ten men to 
select and ship the same over its southern branch, to be used 
for fencing purposes. I built my house and moved my 
family into it July 4th, where, up to this writing, we are 
still happily domiciled. 

In April, 1876, I took the agency of the American 
Fire Insurance Company of Chicago, for Ashtabula, Lake 
and Geauga counties. I at once took the field. On the 1st 
of September following I received a letter from its live and 
worthy secretary, Charles S. Currier, with the flattering 
announcement that I was the banner agent in Ohio for 
August, having placed the most business for the company. 

Some time later, E. A. Butts, of Clevehind, state 
agent, issued a circular to his one hundred agents in the 



PIOXEER SKETCFIES. 



239 




HOME OF M. P. SARGENT, ASHTABULA, OHIO. 

State, offering premiums for the first, second, third, fourth 
and fifth hirgest business done durino- the three closinoj 
months of the year, October, November and December. I 
did not seem to wake up to this matter until the 9th day of 
October, a pleasant morning, when I stepped into the house 
and said to my wife, "I am going to try to win one of 
Butts' prizes," to which she replied, "You can't do it." I 
said to her, "I will take one of those prizes, or you'll sleep 
a widow." She laughed at my broad remarks and wished 
me success. 

I hitched up my horse and started on the war path. I 
well knew the job l)cfore mt; meant hard work, and worked 
accordmgly through sunshine and storm, to the hour that 
came the shocking alarm of the Ashtabula disaster. When 
the smoke of battle had cleared away, the genial, smiling 



240 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

face of Mr. E. A. Butts appeared on the scene ; a large 
gilt-edged full morocco Bible and a fine hunting scene were 
presented to me as my share of the souvenirs in the 
race, for which I thanked him, and thought his presents 
were very appropriate for an insurance man. The general 
state agent, however, requested me to read the Bible. I 
got two prizes out of the five, and my wife did not become 
a widow. 

I continued the agency for this excellent company for 
eight years, with others, and it paid its losses honorably and 
promptly during that time, when it re-insured its risks in the 
Continental, of New York, for which I held the agency for 
three years, when I took up Accident and Life Insurance, 
in which I am now engaged as general agent. 

I have seen something of this world of strife, 
During the past forty years of my life; 
Were I to live it over again, 
Now see where I might have made amends. 

But show me the one who never cast a stone, 
And I Avill show you a natural drone. 
For to err is human, 
For both man and woman. 

The sculptor can chisel quite to his notion. 
But none can make perpetual motion; 
And none doth live a perfect life, 
In this world of unholy strife. 

During these years of scenes and incidents in life, if I 
have not clung to a good share of earthly goods, I have 
had some cx[)erience, which may inure to my benefit, and 
am hap})y in the enjoyment of good health and spirit to 
enjoy an existence, with the enjoinment that we are all, at 
most anytime, subject to — the inevitable — to which I cheer- 
fully submit to take my chances with my fellow men, and 




16 



242 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

proceed with "•Pioneer Sketches, Scenes and Incidents of 
Former Days." 

Never cared for such friends or their style, 

Rather plod in hard sledding for awhile. 

Pioneer Sketches having cost much money and time, 

To aid it getting it out I asked an old friend of mine. 

Making excuses another direction he took, 

And couldn't aid his old friend on a worthy book. 

He'd rather invest in the bonds of the government. 

Or cater to the wants of the opulent, 

Or he who is a cheesehead, a calf, or a steer. 

Than a nickel to help along the noble Book Pioneer. 

To such friends I simply will say, 

Go to h — 1, or the heavenly way. 

And it makes no difference whether you take the book 

On your voluntary order that I took. 

I never cared for such friends or their style. 
Rather plod in hard sledding for awhile. 
At last Pioneer Sketches are out, and soon will pay, 
And the agent can sell a dozen per day. 

It looks as if it was time to call a halt. 

As millions in England aren't earning their salt. 

For humanity's sake, don't let the black pall come down 

On Americans outside the British crown. 

Yet already are here Mr. Duke and Mr. Lord; 
You are the ones our boodle will subserve. 
Your calls will be granted with the greatest of honor 
When safely he could have served his friends in a proportion- 
ate manner. 

But no! In doing this he couldn't see so much glory 
As aiding Mr. Big Cheesehead, wluj lives in a four-story 
Concern — whose foundation begins to topple and fall. 
And presently comes a Godsend, and he loses all. Amen! 

A philosopliic principle: "all things seek its level," 
Then, in tlie name of justice, we ask the good devil 
Whv has not the product of a prolific brain 
Equal claim to a dollar as the " swelhhead" to the same ! 



CHAPTER L. 

GEMS OF THOUGHT. 

If a mau has a ri^ht to be proud of anything, it is of a 
good action done as it ought to be, without any base inter- 
est lurkine: at the Ijottoni of it. 



The gi'ave buries every error, covers every defect, ex- 
tinguishes every resentment. From its peaceful bosom 
spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections. 



We were sent into the world to make it better and 
happier, and in proportion as we do so we make ourselves 
both. 

When the hour of trouble comes to the mind or to the 
body, or when the hour of death comes, it comes to high 
and low ; then it is not what we have done for ourselves, 
but what we have done for others, that we think of most 
pleasantly. — Scott. 

Success is rarely a matter of accident — always a matter 
of character. The reason why so many men fail is that so 
few are willing to pay the price of self-denial and hard work 
which success exacts. 

Remember that there are two guests to be entertained 
— the body and the soul. What 3''ou give the body is soon 
lost ; what you give to the soul remains forever. 



The reflections of a day well spent furnish us with joy 
more pleasing than ten thousand triumphs. 



CHAPTER LI. 

SPARKS OF HUMOR. 

Mable — ''This is the season of amusements." 

Ethel — "Yes; we had a hop and a small circus at our 
house last night." 

Mable— "Indeed." 

Ethel — "Yes; pa stepped on a tack when he was going 
to bed." 



Uncle Hiram — "This is a queer world." 

Grimm — "What makes you think so?" 

Uncle Hiram — "Wal, a painter feller came down to 
my place last summer, and while he was loafin around 
painted a picture of my yaller dog. I heard afterward that 
he sold it for $200, so I brought up the dog, thinkin I ccnild 
get at least a cool thousan for him, but, by gosh, I can't 
even give him away." 



A boy in a Braintree Sunday School when asked from 
the catechism, "What is the chief end of man?'" said: 
"The chief end is the end with the head on." 



' 'That Sallie Harkins is the greatest girl for getting 
bargains at second hand." "Isn't she ! I understand she 
is going to marry a widower. " 



Bilkins — "Bothered by a piano next door, eh ! Well 
I have a dog which always howls when my Avife plays the 
piano — howls so she has to stop, and I'd let you have him 
if it wasn't for one thing. " 

Wilkins— "Ishecross?" 

Bilkins — "No; I can't spare him." 



CHAPTER LII. 

SPRINGBORO. 
OLD CHUMS— SHAD EL AND— STOCKMEN. 






^PRINGBORO is situated on the eastern slope of 
1l^^^ the pleasant Conneaut Creek valley, Crawford 
>^^^j County, Pa. It was settled in 1800, and in its 
^*^ — ^ immediate vicinity among its early settlers were 
Watkin Powell, Elisha and Thomas Bowman, Henry Cook, 
Harry Pond, Robert Foster. Mr. Green, Barney, Ebenezer, 
Eli and Oliver Hall, Stephen Kendall and Hawley Dauchy. 
Having mentioned the pioneers elsewhere, a brief resume of 
the past with the present, will suffice. 

Springboro is big enough, as far as it goes. It has 
more tree men, or nursery fetock dealers, to the acre than 
any other boro in America. They have lately got a rail- 
road which rmis along the old tow path through their 
town, by which the fast agent, in live minutes' walk from 
his domicile, can step onto the cars when he wants to go on 
the war path. They have lately been talking of starting a 
bank, as a matter of convenience, to accommodate their 
business transactions. They are generally a pretty lively 
set of fellows up there at Spring])oro — 

And savor somewhat of aristocracy, 
Well mixed with Republicanism and Democracy ; 
In looking over that enterprising town, 
Among its many bloods, there may be found: 

L. F. McLauglin and Theo. Holenbeak 
Are two of whom I wish to speak; 
The treeman and hustler, John C. Tucker, 
Dempsey, the horseman and game trotter. 

Several others in town, by the name of Hall, 
Another tree and horseman, A. O. Paul; 
Will Pond, the farmer, and young Conover, 
And also Geo. King, the horse drover. 



246 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Billy Booth aud C. M. Sargent, another grade, 

So with Auk. Sheldon, the tree man, it might be said; 

Still, there are two other tree men, who are not so slim, 

Asa McCoy and Lew Quinby, though mighty short in limb. 

Ellas Eighmy, Sheldons, Thornton and Sargent, are still in 

trade. 
Where you can get good bargains as can be made, 
In dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, 
And all such things you have to use. 

But still there is Jeff. Beutley, 

Who must come in eventually; 

Also Marsh Quinby, an easy going feller. 

Who thinks he is something of a tree seller. 

While at Miles Grove the other day, 

As I was tripping down the way 

I esjiied a man talking to my ancestor. Uncle Alf, 

I knew it was Ivit Sturtevant by his hearty laugh. 

I conveyed him do my sister Addie's, 

There comfortably seated the old laddie; 

Hours were spent in rehearsing early scenes in life 

When Rit took the cars for Erie to see his darling wife. 

One mile north Springboro is located the Powell Brothers, 
Who have jDroved to be remarkable fellows, 
Celebrated stock dealers in nearly every brand 
As fine-bred stock as in the land. 

Beader, if perchance you come this way, 
'Twill pay you to stop over a day; 
You will be pleased, I well knoAV, 
In looking at Powell's famous stock show. 

From the time at Shadeland you have first alighted. 
With courteous treatment you'll be delighted; 
Before leaving there you'll come to halt 
And say, if you don't buy 'twont be I'owell's fault. 

This people of Sjjring I think I know their worth; 
This is the place that gave me birth, 
Here I began "Pioneer Sketches" in prose aud verse, 
Here I end it for better or for worse. 




CHAPTER LIII. 

TRAGIC DEATH OF ORSON CHAPMAN. 

N INTELLIGENT, worthy young man. son 
of L. K. Chapman, who Avas reared at 
Sringboro, Pa., met a sudden death at 
Rome, Ashtabuhi County, in 1876. He 
was employed by the P., Y., & A. R. R. 
^'Co. as brakeman, and wdien in the act of 
making a coupling at the place aforesaid he lost his life in 
the following manner: The train was making a running 
switch at a lively rate Avhen Orson had to make a coupling 
between a box car and an open coal car, which was loaded 
with wood. The wood stuck out over the ends of the coal 
car. which in the hurry of the moment, in all probability, 
was not noticed by Mr. Cha})man until too late. When 
the cars came together there was not room for him between 
the projecting wood and the l)ox-car, hence the wood struck 
him on the back of his head and literally scalped him. 
Falling to the ground, the car wheels mangled his legs and 
arms in a horrible manner, and death was instantaneous. 

Mr. Chapman was a promising young man, and held 
the esteem of all who knew him. He was 23 years of age, 
and was to have been promoted in a few days to conductor 
for meritorious service. It appeared, and was thought at 
the time, that the company should have atoned, in some 
measure, for that butchery; but the father of the dead boy 
thought it would not be the means of bringing back to him 
his beloved son, and the matter rested. 



248 PIOXEER SKETCHES. 

I happened to be at the depot when the train brought 
the remains to Ashtabula, as also Avas O. W. DeGrovelt, 
being the only ones who knew the victim. We at once 
telegraphed his parents; also his sister Mary, who was 
attending the medical institute at Cleveland. In the mean- 
time the gentlemanly Superintendent McCoy, of the P., Y. 
& A., did everything in his power to aid us on the occasion, 
procuring a fine casket, etc., and later to get the clothing 
and effects,, which, of course, to the family had a double 
value. 

When Mary, the sister, arrived from Cleveland the 
scene was most affecting. The brother and C. Fisher, from 
Springboro, having arrived, the cortege proceeded with the 
body to Spring Cemetery, its resting place. 

The father, L. K. Chapman, empowered the writer to 
settle up the affairs of his deceased son, which was soon 
accomplished, through the aid of the noble Superintendent 
McCoy. 



CHAPTER LIV. 



RETURN OF SPRING. 

_^^/^^^^HIS fine April morn doth bring 
With it beautiful spring, 
And the robin sweetly sings 
Upon the same old maple limbs. 

The linnet songster, singing everywhere, 
Let's up and hear it and breathe the morn- 
ing air, 
And travel on our journey — don't despair. 
But hope, and try, and we Avill get there. 

Thus advancing no])ly along the way. 
Presently brighter will become the day: 
At last our journey is ended, hope and pray 
To have a bright eternal day . 




CHAPTER LV. 




TO THE AGENT. " 

'OULD you like to undertake 
Some money yourself to make 
i^;\/ The easiest way you ever undertook — 
To sell an excellent book. 

"Pioneer Sketches, Scenes and Incidents of Former Days," 
All about the new and the good old-fashioned ways. 
Hundreds of copies vsoon to be complete. 
Which, they say, are hard to beat. 

As to that, I leave it for others to decide 
Who read it through tlae country far and wide. 
Back to the boyhood days of Washington and others, 
You'll find this book contains many valuable treasures. 

Agent, to you a fair commission I will allow 
To sell my book, if you start in now. 

"N^ow is the accepted time," 
For I don't mean to wait for 1899. 

Respectfully, 

M. P. SARGENT, 

Ashtabula, Ohio. 



CHAPTER LVI. 



EDMlfND SARGENT CIIARAC1TEEISTIC;S. 







iHE SUBJECT of this sketch is the 
second son of Charles and Polly Sar- 
gent, of a family of thirteen children. 
He attended the district school in win- 
ter, was one of the oldest scholars 
attending and was looked up to by the 
younger ones in their out-door sports, 
and to see that matters w^ere fairly 
adjusted inside the school house by 
the teacher. He stood six feet high, straight as an arrow, 
naturally good natured, but combative from head to foot. 
The bio; meadow in the rear of the school house, containing 
loo acres with two gullys running about equal })arallel 
distances through it, afforded a nice play ground for the 
game of deer and hound. 

Ed. being a good runner, starts oft' as the deer; some 
three or four of the longest legged boys quickly start out 
after him. Some good running is done, but after a half- 
hours' run the hounds give up the chase, when the deer 
returns, victorious. This fellow would run during recess 
an hour, seemingly, rather than to eat his dinner, and if 
occasion recjuired, would rather fight than eat. 

The teacher who taught our school, a Mr. Coats, whom 
the boys called for short ^'Old Coats of 1S40." I, being a 
lad of eight years of age, had occasion to ask the teacher: 



252 PIONEER SKETCHES 

"Please to let me go out?" "•No!'' was his anssver. 
Presently I asked again to go out; "No !" was his 
surly reply, and added: "If you ask again I will punish 
you." Something had to be done. Later "Old Coats" 
started for me with a willow gad about six feet long, when 
Ed. quickly arose from his seat and told him not to strike 
me. Sim. Skecls too, was on deck and Coats did not lick 
me, and he was told by these young stalwarts that he 
ouo;ht to be ashamed of himself. What followed I leave 
for another chapter. 

While Coats stood between me and the door, 
But he had to clean uja the floor. 

On New Year's morning Ed, Sim Skeels and most of 
the scholars were in the school room early and locked the 
door. When the teacher came he couldn't get in, and after 
making several fruitless attempts he went to the side win- 
dows, but found them nailed down. He then resorted to 
threats, but to no avail ; whereupon the boys told him it 
was New Year's morning and that he must treat them to a 
bushel of good apples before they let him in. Coats being 
satisfied that the demand Avas imperative and that their 
appetites were fixed for apples, sent for these at once and 
they were placed along the counters. The scene that fol. 
lowed eating those apples for an hour was ludicrous. This 
wasthe only time I ever saw a grin or smile on old Coats' 

face. 

'Twas enough to make a mvde grin 
To see the scholars take them ap])les in; 
When Coats opened up with })rayer, 
And every scholas who was there 

Got th(!ir books and studied well, and Coats proceeded with 
his regular routine of classical duties, reading, writing, 
Cobl), I)ayl)c)ll and Kirkham, mtdving and repairing goose- 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 253 

quill pens, until roll-call, the finale of the New Year's school 
day of 1840. 

Well, we soon found that we could not always have 
Ed with us. When about 17 years of age he started for 
the west. He was young, but vigorous, and was a fine 
specimen of physical manhood — 

And off he sails Hke a ship at sea, 

Not knowing what his fortune was to be. 

In Indiana he brings up and labors for a while ; got 
married, embarked in the stock business, dealing in cattle, 
sheep, hogs and poultry; subsequently in the lumber business 
and during a good portion of the time kept hotel. At the 
outbreak of the war he enlisted in the service; was at Shiloh, 
Nashville, Chattanooga and other battles. Returning from 
the army he engaged in his former business, and is now 
keeping hotel in Indiana. 

Surely Ed has paddled his own canoe 
From boyhood all the way through 
Adverse, prosperous, varying strife, 
Through the rough and placid stream of life. 



CHAPTER LVII. 

THINGS THAT ARE QUEER. 

OME THINGS queer that have been seen, 
^^^^^ Blackberries red when they are green, 
y^^^^V Garter snake swallowing big warty toad, 
^^^^=s=i>' Little donkey carrying half ton load. 

Drove of monkeys bridging a stream. 

The queerest thing ever seen. 

From tree tops, each side, suspended by the tail. 

Swinging to and fro through the dale. 

From this bridge young monkeys hanging down, 
Snarling, chattering, hopping all around, 
AVhen over this bridge scampered dry shod, 
Never the like since the day of gods. 

Past centuries of creation, 
When Darwin made his estimation 
That the monkey should progress 
Onward to man and nothing less. 

I hei'e leave the transfiguration 
For Darwin to make the enumeration, 
Content that the monkey bridge is all right, 
And to a novice would be a novel sight. 

Darwin's monkey and the donkey 
Are mischievous and very cranky. 
The former is up to tricks of every kind, 
AVhile the latter will kick up behind. 

While in our land exists the monkey and the ass, 
AVe'll step aside and let 'em pass. 
And give Darwin full swing to operate 
AVith his monkey-ing at any rate. 



CHAPTER LVIII. 

J. F. WOODARD. 

F. WOODAED was born at Spring, Pa., in 1825, 
eldest son of John and Mary Woodard, Avho were 
among the pioneer settlers of Spring. While young 
he attended the district school and developed a desire for 
mathematics, and in this branch he was one of the first in 
school, relieving his teacher of the oft repeated request, 
"Please show me about this sum." Young Woodard did 
not call on his teacher to show him^ but worked out his own 
problems, and this was a characteristic of him through life, 
to work his way through. 

J. F. Woodard has done as many hard day's work as 
any man I know of his age. Soon after reaching his ma- 
jority he struck out for himself, })U3ing a tract of land ad- 
joining the old homestead, he set to work getting out saddle 
trees, hoops, and clearing up his lands. Afterwards he 
purchased ^ tract of timber land, on which was a largo 
quantity of whitewood and white ash timber. He married 
a Miss Huntley, of Erie Count}', Pa., an estimable lady, 
and removed to his new farm, on which he built a saw mill 
and engaged actively in the lumljer business. He made his 
own ox yokes, sleds and axe helves, and did considerable of 
his millwright, house and barn building work, and lie never 
flinched when hard Avork loomed up on all sides around him. 

His hard labor soon brought him a cash surplus. A 
leather firm at Springboro thought they had a place for it, 
and got some three and a iialf thousands of the money, 



256 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

with a promise to repay the same with interest at a future 
day. One fine day the news was heralded that the leather 
firm had failed. Mr. Woodard thought, and so did his at- 
torney, that by an attachment on the leather some of the 
purchase money could be recovered. But the hides were 
too slippery, and he and several others lost everything. He 
sustained another loss by a lumber sale. 

I do not speak of these transactions in the light of a 
large or a small affair, but simply in the light of money 
earned l)y hard knocks by a man who had no speculative 
ambition and who went right straight ahead unceasingly 
in his hard toil to recover this loss and to sustain himself 
and family in old age. 

Mr. Woodard bought the old homestead, improved the 
same, erected good buildings, and in a few years sold it and 
removed his family to Spring. His boys were all girls — 
five in number, and he gave them a good education. He 
purchased a farm in Girard Township, Pa., near Miles 
Grove, to where he removed and now resides. One of his 
daughters is married, and the others reside at home. They 
are intelligent ladies, and have lucrative positions. 

J. F. Woodard is a good farmer, and is still an indus- 
trious, hard-working man; is respected in the community in 
which he lives, and has the consolation that he etu-ned his 
dollars and has a competency for himself and family. 






CHAPTER LIX. 

R. H. AND BYRON SARGENT. 

^^HE ABOVE named gentlemen are about the same 
e) age and size. The former the eldest son of Anson 
Sargent, who was a strong, muscular man; the 
later the fourth son of Charles Sargent, the great hunter. 
In the family of Anson were nine children; in the family 
of Charles were twelve children. The subjects of this 
article were born at Spring, Cravvford County, Pa., in 
1829, attended the same school, at the country school 
house, and there and elsewhere were much in company with 
each other on most all occasions, until they had grown 
up to manhood. K. H. was muscuhir and active, Byron 
strong and wily, and many a. lively set-to had they, with- 
out arousing their anger, in order (as they used to sa}^) to 
try the muscle and keep in good trim the exercise of the 
manly art. Good natured, temperate, never abusive, but 
the man who attacked them found bad medicine and quit 
the business satisfied. It seems that they have taken good 
care of their avoirdupois, as each one tips the scales at 
230 pounds at present age of 61. As I write my memory 
carries me back to lioyhood days and the many pleasant 
hours passed in their company and others. li. H. is lively, 
witty and musical, and with our fiddle and song we fre- 
quently had our own time. 

The combative Byron would come up with a difterent 
line of music and tap on the rib, and the best thing I could 

n 



258 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

do with hiiii (^n the occasion was to stand up and sHng out 
right and left. I hadn't as much fat on the rib as he, and 
sometimes I thought he tapped rather hard; but as for him 
apparently the harder I would tap him the better. One 
day afterwards, however, I thought I got even with him. I 
called at his house. He proposed to have some fun, and 
took down his father's gun and we went out gunning. Game 
did not appear very plenty in the woods that morning, but 
the wily Byron must have some sport anyhow, and when 
out in a cleared tield he proposed that we shoot at each 
other's hat at a distance of 25 rods, A stake was driven to 
hang the hats upon. Mine was a l)roadcloth cap, made by 
my mother; his was a straw hat, braided and made by his 
mother, and I thought them too valuable souvenirs to be 
shot to pieces. He blazed away at my cap, but never hit 
it. I then drew a bead on his, the bullet striking one edge 
of the crown, cutting oflf every braid to the rim. He went 
to the stake, picked up the hat and put it on his head, and 
facino" me said, "Never touched it ;" but turning his head 
around, the hair of his head from crown to ear was sticking 
out of the hole made in the hat. 

He became a boatman on the Erie & Pittsl)urg Canal ; 
was master of the boats, James, Bird and Napoleon. In 
1851-2 he explored Black Hawk County, Iowa, the Cedar 
River and Black Hawk Creek, accompanied l)y Obcd Wells, 
and finally settled there, l)eing one of the pioneer settlers 
of Black Hawk County. I saw liim where he and his family 
now reside, he l)eing engaged in a commission grain business 
at Hudson, Iowa. He possesses self-rc^liance, habits of 
industry and temperance, which havi; left him in a good 
pecuniary condition. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 259 

R. H. Sargent while quite young was, by the death of 
his father, left to manage the affairs at the homestead, which 
he did in a very acceptable manner for so young a lad. In 
1852 he accepted a clerkship in a store at Conncautville ; 
married, became postmaster at Conncautville, Avas quite a 
politician, though in a poor county for a Democrat to win. 
In 1854 he was an oil refiner at that place, then at Peti'o- 
leum Centre on the W. McClintock farm, where he became 
a successful oil producer, and about the year 1870 removed 
with his family to Titusville, where he now resides. 



CHAPTER LX. 



SPAKKS OF HUMOR. 



,-5>^„W' c 



Mf^^gK)^ and a little snpper at Waldeck's. " Df 
}.\J 'Sit-,'-- — ^~^ ling,"" said he, suddenly, as he gaze 




A ^ E WAS takino- her home after the theatre 

ar- 
ed 
dreamingly at the silvery disc overhead, 
''why am I like the moon?" "It isn't 
because you're full, is it?" she asked as 
she edged away from him. ' ' No, " said 
he, sadly ; "I'm on my last quarter." 



Backwoods — What's that ring worth ? 

Jeweler — I couldn't sell you that for less than $7; the 
setting is a genuine cat's eye. 

Backwoods — Seven dollars for a cat's eye! Say, Mis- 
ter, I'll sell you a whole cat and seven kittens for that. 



Farmer, hiring help at Castle Garden — Pat, if you 
want to work for me I'll give you |25 a month and your 
board. 

O'Flynn, just landed — Faix, is that same the highest 
rate of wages they be paying in this country 'i 

Farmer, facetitiously — AVell, they're paying about $15 
a day in Congress. 

Patrick — Thin, begorra, oi'll go to Congi-ess. 



Sniggins, angrily — Do you know that your chickens 
come come over in my yard? 

Snooks — I supposed they did, for they never come 
back aijfain. 



CHAPTER LXI. 




WILLIAM S. ALDERMAN. 

RAISING THE LOG HOUSE — AN INCIDENT— AN UGLY ELEVATION — BOAT- 
ING—CLEARING UP LANDS— SETTLING ON HIS LANDS — MARRIAGE. 

AYOULD like to sketch all of my old school 
mates, but time and space will not permit. 
P)Ut I cannot pass on without a mention of 
AMlliam S. Alderman, who was born in 
Brio'htstown, now Harmonsburff, Crawford 
County, f'd., in 1832. His father, William Alderman, 
married Polly Sargent, who with her husband kept a hotel 
at the place. Two children were l)orn to them. Marietta 
and William. William was an infant at the time of his 
father's death, and his mother with her two infant children 
was unable to keep hotel and removed to Spring Township 
and lived with her parents, Phineas and Mary Sargent, in 
an adjoining part of their house. William was thus left 
fatherless with his poor widowed mother, who struggled 
hard to raise her two children, plying the needle until mid- 
night to make garments for people for a small pittance, to 
keep the wolf from the door. Money was scarce in those 
days and a dollar was as big as a cart wheel. 

I will relate an incident of Aunt Polly, who said that 
at the time she was struggling for a subsistence for herself 
and little ones, she devoutedly prayed one night that some 
aid niiijht come to them. At a later hour she heard a wasfon 
coming furiously down the hill, and when at the top of the 
hill, o})posite her house, she heard a wrangling, apparently 



262 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

of intoxicated men, who soon drove on. After daybreak 
she went out on the road where this wranghng took place 
and picked up a five-doilar bill and several pieces of silver. 
This she said was an unscrntable act of Providence to aid 
the wddow in distress, and her prayer was answered. 

William S. Alderman attended our district school, and 
during the first 28 years of his life he and the writer passed 
much of the time together, felling trees, sawing logs, clear- 
ing land, haying, harvesting grain, etc. , and he was a man 
who would always do a good day's work at whatever he 
engaged. 

At the age of 20 he bought 50 acres of the Chew lands 
of John Reynolds, of Meadville, the agent, and went into 
the woods to clear away the trees at first sufficient to erect 
a loo; house for a home for his mother, sister and himself. 

In the spring of 1852 a dozen or more men and Ijoys 
met to help William erect his log house. In felling a 
smooth, stately beech, it lodged firmly against another large 
tree which we did not want to cut, and the only way to 
bring down the beech tree was to cut u}) slanting on the 
stump on which it rested and let it slide back on its stump, 
which it did and came back with great velocity, ploughing 
the ground in its course. Several of us standing there 
could not move aside, for the building was on one side and 
tinil)er on the other, and we had to run for our lives in the 
same direction the tree was coming. AHrcd J. Sargent, Jr. , 
being in line nearest to the trt^e, which Avas so close to him 
that when it balanced on the stump the butt of the tree 
flying up with great force, struck him astern and sent him 
skyward ten or twelve feet, his (^^^'^ protruiUng from his 
head. 'Twas a fearful sight for a moment, but he came to 
the ground in nearly a perpendicular position and placing 



264 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

his hands upon his hips found that no bones were broken ; 
but he got an ugly elevation and had a narrow escape. 

We hnished the erection of the body of the house that 
day and ere long he finished it and had his mother and 
sister comfortably domiciled therein. 

He boated on the Erie & Pittsburg Canal several sum- 
mers, cutting timber in winter preparatory to clearing up 
his land. He married an excellent wife, who proved a great 
helpmate to him, and in the course of a few years had an 
excellent, well-stocked farm, good buildings, a comfortable 
home for his pioneer mother to enjoy, also the satisfaction 
of knowing that her daughter Marietta had been fortunate 
in marriage, and now living in Chicago. Their good 
condition in life was a consolation to her. She died in 
1880. William S. Alderman died in 1884. 

The high and low are coni})ared to the dust of earth, 
We must not underrate those of humble birth; 
Lincoln, Garfield and General Grant 
AVere of humble birth, vet noble, solid as tlie adamant. 




CHAPTER LXIL 

THE (;lkver bears of calveras county — their SAGAcirv— the 

PIG sty. 

iNIMALS throughout the animal kingdom 
are more or loss sagacious and none perhaps 
more cunning in phmning and executing 
their designs than bruin. Knowing his 
strength instinctivel}', l)ut few animals care 
to meddle with him, and the c^iution and intelligence ex- 
hibited sometimes appear wonderful. 

A short time since a Mr. Mathews over in Calveras 
County, missed from time to time some of the nice fat pigs 
from his pig pen. He took })recautions, and searched 
throughout the neig-hborhood, and laid in wait until near 
midnight for the tliieves, but to no avail, and occasionally a 
pig would disappear. 

At last he determined to build a pig sty that no thief 
could get into. He set posts and girts and built a strong 
picket fence around the enclosure, twelve fett high, so that 
no thief could get through it or over the top of it. He 
then rested from his labors with the assurance that his pigs 
were safe. In a couple of days he discovered to his sur- 
prise that the nicest pig from the sty w^as gone. So that 
night, with his Winchester in hand, Mr. M. secreted him- 
self Ijetween his house and the sty (a little back from the 
path leading theret(j) and was determined to watch, if neces- 
sary, all night for the thief. One o'clock came, and he 
began to think that the thief would not put in an appear- 
ance that niaht. 




THE CLEVER HKARS OF CAI.VERAS COUNTY. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 267 

Just before 2 o'clock he heard something stepping in 
the direction of his house. There were two larjje bears, 
the male bear advancing uprightly to a position in front of 
his house ; the she l)ear followed, faced about and took po- 
sition alongside, both standing on their hind legs, surveying 
the premises and their surroundings. Presently half a 
dozen young cubs came scampering up, halted a moment, 
passed on and scampered up a large scrub oak tree, the 
branches of which extended over the pig pen. The she 
bear moved on and climl^ed the tree, taking her position 
about fifteen feet from the ground. Then the old sentinel 
moved toward the tree and climbed up to the first large 
branch, which extended over the pig pen ; then he crawled 
along out on the big limlj, followed by the she bear, to hold 
the limb down, as it bent down by the weight of the bear 
into the pig pen. 

A furious squealing was heard in the pen, and the old 
sow rushed at the bear, but one cufi" from the paw of bruin 
laid her out, ;md he proceeded to pick out his pig and then 
crawled up the massive branch, the she bear retreating to 
the l)ody of the tree, followed by her mate with the pig. 
At this juncture Mathews fired into the tree. The pig 
dropped to the ground unharmed, the cubs scampered down 
the tree and took the back track for the woods, followed by 
the mother, at a slow gait. Her mate stopped near the pen, 
seemingly for a sort of an understanding with the pig 
owner, who said, ''Well, this is pretty well done, anyhow, 
and I will let you go this time, but if you come monkeying 
around my pig i)en any more I will hurt you." At last 
account from Mathews be Avas doing well in the pig busi- 
ness. His clever treatment with those clever bears of Cal- 
veras had a salutary effect. His pig sty has not since been 
molested. 

Moral. — If kind treatment had {i salutary efiect on the 
bruin family, it certainly ought to have on the human family. 




CHAPTER LXIII. 

ASAPH SARGENT. 

^^ORN IN Spring, Crawford County, Pa., in 1832, 
^^f the tifth son of Charles und Polh^ Sargent; habits 
[|^-^ of inchisty and frugahty were soon to bo seen 
cropping out, and in his youth the great Paas Day in 
April, by him was always hailed in sacred memory; to lay 
by the biggest lot of eggs, especially the goose eggs, for 
that occasion. Their big flock of geese wandering o'er the 
big pastures and meadows, it required pretty sharp hunting 
to find all their nests, secreted among the old stumps in the 
field. Ace was expert in this and apparently could smell 
a goose egg as far as a ferret could a rat, therefore he 
hunted successfully their nests and stayed by the goose and 
would hurry her up to get her last egg, and always came 
out Avith the biggest pile of eggs for Paas Day, of which 
he was mighty fond, as most people are, especially the 
spring crop. 

Ace w^as a good swinnner, too. Ace, Sam. Wood- 
ard and the writer went down to Vaughn's pond one day 
in 1845 to take a swim in that pond and down the raging 
canal. On arriving we dove into that pond and swam 
across its deep water; when returning, about in the middle 
of the })ond, a terrible stitch took me in the right leg, I 
said nothing, but flounced like a wounded sea serpent, 
the boys came to mj^ assistance, and getting hold of 
me, I said the kink had left m(>; to Avhich Ace replied: 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 269 

"Glad of that, but I guess we can swim along side, should 
you get kinked again we can nabb you; it is not a very 
nice spot to get a cramp in twenty feet of water." Not- 
withstanding we landed safely on the other side. 

Soon after arriving at his majority ho bought a patch 
of heavy timbered land situate on the four corners of roads 
near Michaers saw mill, Spring, Pa., afterwards called 
Millgrove, where he tusseled with the big hemlocks for a 
season. One night he had a dream of a beautiful 
western prairie \vhere he could raise corn, wheat and 
potatoes without so much grubbing, and the admonition of 
Horace Greeley welled up in his throat, "Go west, young 
man," and Ace went west. 

Presently he turns up in Black Hawk County, la., on a 
tine prairie site and laid out the town of Hudson, la. The 
growth of the new city was phenomenal. 

While the prairie flower did. grow, 
And the farmer did plow and sow ; 
Asaph soon came to know 
It took money to make a city grow. 

The countless acres of the prairie were then more 
numerous than dollars. In the oldest settled portions of 
Illinois and Iowa every farmer had a prospective railroad 
line running through his farm and improved farms ruled 
higher in 1854-5-6 than in the East. But the countr}^ 
was too large for all to reap the bonanza and many had to 
bide their time. As water seeks its level, so does commer- 
cial business and investment. 

During the time, 1855-60, the growth of Hudson was 
not very rapid. One day Ace took it into his head to emi- 
grate further westward, wherefore he was soon snuffing the 
breezes in the mountains of Colorado. While there he had 



270 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

a good opportunity to recuperate his healtli with the invig- 
orating, elevated atmosphere, and to see the elephant in all 
his phases — the land slides, man slides and western ava- 
lanches. 

Some years of mountain life had passed, with the ups 
and dowais of mining life, when one cold day he "was mak- 
ing a prospecting tour in the mountains through a forest 
range of fifteen miles. Darkness came on and he lost his 
course and was compelled to dig a hole through the snow 
to the leaves on the ground and l)ury himself therein to 
keep from freezing. 

The next morning the sun was shining brightly when 
he looked at his compass, took his course and proceeded on 
his way to join his party, and found he had but two miles 
to travel to get out of the woods. He also found, on thaw- 
ing out, that the toes of both his feet were frozen. 

That cold night he only lost all of his toes, 
Which was sufficient, Asaph well knows, 
Nevertheless he survied the terrible shock. 
And when he got ready returned to Black Hawk. 

Since the creation of the world revulsions in nature, 
revulsions in business; later, revulsions in Ijooming tlirough- 
out the great West have been in order. Many western in- 
land towns grew up like a mushroom, as it were, in a night; 
and when the storm cloud came they could only lay low un- 
til the cyclone was over. Thos(i who wx^re not prostrated 
by the Ijlast in time would rise again, and proht by it be- 
for another ])anic should reach them. In course of time 
the miasma disappears, the resources of their country are 
brought out, conniierce and wealth arc broocUng near, when 
onward and upward they go 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 271 

With a feeling of security at last 

From the forebodings of the past. 

The great prolific West, 

However, is by far the best 

For the young man of pluck and ambition 

To better his condition. 

The last I heard of Cousin Ace 
Was near Des Moines on his place : 
Married, fai'ming, and well-to-do, 
With some children for company, too. 
Which, I think, must seem very nice to Ace 
Thus to settle in a prolific country place. 



CHAPTER LXIV. 

EITNER H. STURTEVANT. 

^^^ ITNER H. STURTEVANT, the eldest son 
%i^m W of Daniel W. Sturtevant, was born at Spring, 

I ^^^ Pa., in 1832. At the early age of six years 
I ^^ he commenced to go to the district school, 
/"* VJ which was only a few rods away, just across 

the o-iilly, from his paternal roof. Thus favored in being 
so near to the school he could attend during all sorts of 
weather. He was not only fortunate in this respect, l)ut he 
seemed to have been born in a pleasant time of the moon, 
as everything went off all right with Pit— that he enjoyed 
the even tenor of life, and could laugh easier and louder than 
any other lad in school, and he has retained that happy dis- 
position through life. 

Well, Pit started off an easy learner and speller. He 
soon learned to spell every word in Cobb's Spelling Book; 
and geography, why he could sing geography from Maine 
to Mexico and from California to Egypt when he was twelve 
years old, so that he, with a good number of others in that 
district school, had mastered the common English branches 
when in their early teens. 

Fortunate for Pit that everything went well with him; 
scarcely ever getting angry or in a hurry, except in getting 
home to dinner and back again to play crack the whip, snow 
ball or ride down hill; not so much addicted to scuffling or 
wrestling us some of the other boys, consequently he gener- 
ally kept free from those entangling alliances that boys. 



. PIONEER SKETCHES. 273 

111011 and nations frequently get into. He earl}' learned the 
axiom of Josh Billing, that " the best place to have a boil 
Avas on some other feller." 

His time during the summer months was s})ent on his 
father's farm, boating on the Erie & Pittsburg Canal, and 
attending school in winter. At the age of IT he com- 
menced teaching school, at which he was engaged for sev- 
eral winters; and when arriving to his majority, at an age 
that he could vote for patli-master or a President, he took 
unto himself a wife, believing that it was not best to be 
alone. 

In the course of ten or twelve years his eoiuj)anion died, 
leaving two small children. In (course of time he married 
again, and during all these years Ritner has quietly and 
comfortably lived on his farm, on the pleasant western 
slope of Spring Valley, one of the most pleasantl\' situated 
spots on earth. 

He officiated as justice of the peace for several years, 
and dispensed the technical coiiq)ound of Blackstone, I be- 
lieve, in mild and intelligent doses to his constituents. 
Unpretentious, liberal in his views, social in his intercourse 
with his fellow-inan. still remaining at his jKjst tilling the soil 
remuneratively, still enjoying the even tenor of life and his 
faculties, good health, with a cheerful, hearty laugh, — the 
same old Hit of forty years ago. 



18 



CHAPTER LXV. 



SPAEKS OF nUMOK. 



A I'VE an idea that some of the folks in this 
((i^^^AA graveyard haAn"t gone to heaven.'" 

;,A^^^\^ ' 'You don't say I wli at makes you think so ;f" 
^ 'Because I read it on the tombstones." 
''No!" 

' 'Yes I did, though ; it Avas carved on ever so many, 
'peace to his ashes;' now there isn't any ashes 'cept Avhere 
it's veiy hot, is there, ma?" 



Cross-examining counsel — "Isn't your husband a l)urg- 
Lir ?" 

Witness — ' 'Y-e-s. " 

Cross-examining counsel — "And didn't you know he 
was a burglar when j^ou married him ?" 

Witness — "Yes; but I was getting a little old and I 
had to choose between a burglar and a lawyer, so what else 
could I do V 



Schoolmaster — ''Yes, but look here my boy, sn})pose I 
w-ere to lend your father £'500, let us say without interest, 
but on condition that he should pay me £10 a week, how 
much would he still owe me in two months ?" 

New boy — 'Five hundred pounds, sir." 

"Tut, tut, my boy; you don't know the first i)rinciples 
of arithmetic." 

"You don't know my father, sir." 




CHAPTER LXVI. 

JOHN C. 8TUKTEVANT. 

HI) C. STURTP2VAXT was l)orn at Spring, Grawford 
County, Pa., in 1834. His father, Daniel Stur- 
tevant, was born at Ciucinnatus, Cortland Co., 
X. Y.. and came to this place with his parents and others 
of his family in 1820 and settled on the Conneautville road 
two miles north of Springboro. Daniel Sturtevant married 
a Miss Susan Hall, who proved a great helpmate. They 
at once settled upon their farm, and being one of the 
pioneer families of Spring, they found for their vigorous 
and strong wilhng hands plenty to do, and ere long found 
themselves the possessers of one of the tin(\><t 15<>-acrc 
farms in the township. 

To this union were live children: Kitner, John C. 
Seth, Emaline and Almira. all of whom are now living and 
married, with a famil}- of children enjoying the even tenor 
of life and in the enjoyment of good health. 

J. C. Sturtevant w^as principally educated at the 
country school house. He was a faithful student and lost 
no opiM)rtunity in making the most out of everything he 
engaged in. AVhat l)elonged to him he Avanted and he 
proposed to get it. One day he and the writer went tishing 
down to the Conneaut Creek. On returning, our strings 
of fish Avere not very hea\'j-, and I proi)osed to buy his 
string. A l)argain was struck and two cents the consider- 
ation payable the first time we met. A fcAV days thereafter 
he espied me Avith a ''Halloo, Mart., have you £:ot them 



276 FIOXEER SKETCHES. 

two cents V We settled that account on the spot. But 
on the other had, we always found him equally prompt and 
ready to pay up to the last penny due. 

And no doubt this trait of character has aided much 
in all his subsequent transactions, Avhich have proven suc- 
cessful. Young Sturtevant, when a boy, read Greeley's 
Political History, and he soon developed into a politician 
and took an active part on the Republican side. His first 
move on the checker l)oard was sergeant-at-arms a couple 
of terms at Harrisburg. Next he was (jlccted to the Legis- 
lature and served two terms. Afterwards he embarked in 
the hardware Ijusiness at Conneautville, Pa., successfully, 
of course, and now and during the past twenty years at 
this and other places, he has been interested in the bank- 
ing business. 

During the thirty years' business career of jSlr. Stur- 
tevant, he seems to have had his share of administrative 
affairs to settle up for other peoi)le, and it has been done in 
a satisfactory manner, Avhich is only wrought by correct 
Imsiness methods. Social in his everyday avocations and 
his relations with his fellow man, which has made him a 
useful, prominent and necessary factor in society and in the 
community in which he lives. 



CHAPTER LXVII. 




SAMUEL F. WOODARD. 

CANXOTpass over the memo- 
ries of our boyhood days and 
scenes of the country school with- 
out a brief sketch of S. F. 
Woodard, who was born in 
Spring Township, Crawford 
County, Pa., in 1831. 

When at a suitable age, he 
went to the country school, 
which, except the first two or three summers, was confined 
to the winter term, which was generally of three months* 
duration. 

Young Woodard was a diligent scholar, and applied 
himself with wonderful vigor and calculation to the knotty 
problems of Da>'boll, and to the orthography, syntax and 
prosody of Kirkliam. The mouse that ventured to run 
across the floor, or the youth who was undergoing a course 
of sprouts from Ihe teacher, apparently did not draw his 
attention from the work he had before him Every now 
and then the teacher would be solicited with, ''School master, 
please show me about this sum or problem. " But Samuel 
Woodard ciphered through his arithmetic and algebra with- 
out calling on the teacher to work for him a problem. He 
believed in Fowler's axiom, "Know thyself." If others 
would or could have done likewise it would have relieved 
the teacher very much in the district school in those days, 



^''.S PIONEER SKETCFiES. 

as the teacher had to work most diligently during the hours 
of school to attend to the numerous calls. This trait of 
self-reliance of Mr. Woodard has characterized him in his 
subsequent career in life — unpretentious, hut attending 
strictly to his business. He taught school for two terms in 
his^'outh, then engaged in selling books, and in 18r)5 com- 
menced teaching, near Dayton, Ohio, where he Avas engaged 
thirteen years. He afterwards embarked in the nursery 
stock business, in which he was successful — and, at the age 
of 59, he is now enjoying the even tenor of his life with his 
family, with the consolation that he j)ossesses for them and 
himself a sufficiency for life. 




CHAPTER LXVIII. 

LUCIUS F. MCLAUGHLIN. 

UCIUS F. McLaughlin was bom in spring 
Township, Crawford County, Pa., in 1836, in 
^ which place and immediate vicinity he has since 
lived. His father, Henry Mcljaiighlin, was a carpenter by 
trade, and also carried on a small farm near the Conneaut 
Creek, in Spring ToAvnship, Pa. 

Lucius F. obtained a fair education at our district 
school, became a teacher, and later worked with his father 
at the carpenter trade, building houses and canal boats. 
Young McLaughlin soon learned the value of a dollar and 
also how to figure in proportion, and the rule of three. He 
soon began a brokerage business at the old homestead, and 
woukl buy a good note or loan you money, if the sceurity 
and rate of interest suited. 

When the nursery stock ])oom struck Springb(jro like a 
w^estern avalanche the plucky McLaughlin sailed out and at 
the close of the season came out in good shape. This he 
rei)eated year after year. His sales were large ami his 
profits in proportion. At that day it was customary to sell 
a dozen dift'erent kinds of gra[)es from a Concord sectUing. 

Mr. McLaughlin I)ecame (jaite a dealer in and owner of 
real estate. Always frugal, industrious and })ersevcring in 
all his business pursuits, he has been en;ibled to accuniulate 
a competency for himself and family. 



280 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

According to his natural shrewdness and frugahty Mr. 
McLanghhn did not venture upon the sea of matrimony 
until the fact was assm'ed that his wife need not necessarih' 
dream of a hard day's work or of a probable poorhouse. 

He now resides with his family a Springboro, Pa., and 
is (Migaged in mercantile and other >)usiness pursuits, in 
which there is no doubt he will in the future, as in the past, 
enjoy a successful business career. 

For ]\[ac if he wasn't born in the radiant month of Jnne 

And in his mouth a silver spoon ; 

Show him a scheme, if there is money in it 

He will ri<i' some sort of purchase to win it. 



CHAPTER LXIX. 



MR. FREY (iOES OUT FOR HIS BREAKFAST 




AY BACK in the good old days of 18 28, 
in the little town of Warsaw, lived an 
eccentric Mr. Frcy, who was accustomed 
'to call on his ncighl)ors frequently al)out 
meal time; and in course of time this 
practice became quite common w i t h 
Mr. Frey in the neighborhood. One 
moning he started out and fetched up at 
the door of Neighbor Sinipkins, who bid 
him ''come in/' wiien he found to his 
dismay that Mr. S., wdfe and daughter 
were already seated around the family 
table to partake of their morning repast. 
The usual salutation, however, was extended by Mr. Simp- 
kins with a "Good morning, Mr. Frey,"" (who just then 
was rather hard of hearing.) 

"I don't care if I do; I haint been to l)reakfast." 

Mr. Sinipkins (louder) — " I say, Good morning, ]\Ir. 
Frey." 

" Wei V said Mr. Frey, '' I don't believe in making 
excuses," and he took a chair and seated himself at the 
breakfast table to take his breakfast with Neighbor Simp- 
kins, wife and daughter. 



2S2 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Mr. Simpkins soon realized that the old epicure had 
scored a point to get another l)reakfast, when he said to 
the old sinner: 

'' Please ask the blessino-, Mr. Frey." 

When Mr. Frey <>:lance(l o'er the table his eye 

Aud discovered only three slices of meat 

For the four persons to eat 

He blessed it with a 

" Bless God, there are three slices for four of us, 

Thank God there are no more of us," 

A\ hen he graciously partook of his breakfast witli the trio. 
Mr. Simpkins discovered 

That there was no use 

In ])ourinf>; water on a goose. 



CHAPTER LXX. 

!<PAKKS OF HUMOE. 

SMART ALECK riding along on horse back, 
in(juired of a boy sitting on the fence, ""What 
time have yon, boy?" "Us has all kinds of 
time. My sister Sal has standard time, that's 
the clock ; the hired girl has snn time, that's 
lookin' at the shadows; Pap and mam, they have a h— 1 of 
a time, that's what they're havin' in there now, and if yoii 
don't want to hear somethin' strike, and strike mighty hard, 
you'd better be gettin' out of here." 




"Pm something of a freetrader," said Johnny, as he 
stole a bushel of apples from his father's neighbor's orchard, 
••but," he added, tapping the seat of his trousers, within 
which he had placed three towels and a sheet of tin, ''I be- 
lieve in the protective principles when protection is needed. 
— Jury. 

"Pat, do you know what a cemetery is?" "Av coorse 
I do. It's a place where folks live after they're dead, soor." 



"Pat, Avliat did you jniy for your new hat?" "Faith, 
an' I don't know. There was no one in the store when I 
bought it."' 

She — "I say, pet, what calamity would give you the 
most pain ? " 

He — "As I idolize my wife, I should most of all regret 
her l)eiDo: left a widows'' 



CHAPTER LXXI. 



TRADE IX FORMER DAYS. 




T IS wonderful to note how l)usiness was 
carried on in former days, and the small 
amount of money used in the prosecution 
and c()m})letion of large jobs. For in- 
stance, the huildina' of the numerous 
locks on the Erie & Pittsljin'g Canal at 
Lock})ort, Pa., in which Messrs. Bald- 
win, llinu'od c^ Co. figured largely, in 
• 'Blue Crackee, " a sort of scri[) principally 
used by that firm in quarrying and haul- 
ing the great (|uantities of stone used in building the Lock- 
port locks in ls;}8-9. The ''Blue Crackee'' scrip issued 
by that firm was extensively used in payment for lal)oi" and 
material, and for some time was the principal factor in 
exchange for goods, and the circulating mediuui or cur- 
rency. It was a c(mnnon thing to hear, amoug horse deal- 
ers. ''I'll give you >t>10 'boot' to swap horses, and pay in 
•crackee;' or. "I'll give you $1-') in 'crackee' for that red 
cow." Or to tiie young man: "I'll give you 50 cents a da}' and 
board you. and pay you in ' Blue Crackee,' if you'll come 
and work for me." 

In lN-t<i the raging canal was opened to commerce and 
the denizen and the ambitious youth alike were eager to 
set sail upon its waters as captain of the scow, with the 
papers in his liat. 



PIONEER Sk' ETCHES. -''^'> 

Presently there was a demand for more houts. The 
Reed line, also the Thompson and Metcalf lines sprang 
into existence, offering numerous chances for gallant young 
and elderly captains to lease a l)oat ])y pa}ing a certain 
price per tonnge each tri}). The l)lack diamonds at this time 
were numerous and extensively mined at Chirksville, 
Sharpsville. Sharon, Middlesex, Kenekanese and Pitts- 
burg. Lumber mills were erected and large quantities 
of the best quality of white ash and whitewood lumber, 
beech saddle trees, black ash hoops for nail kegs and Hour 
l)arrels, also basswood logs for nail keg staves, white oak 
and red oak barrel staves, headings, etc., which had to l)e 
transported by canal to the Erie or the Pittsl)urg market^ 
created a lively business on the canal, which in turn created 
a good market for the farmer for his hen's eggs and chickens 
(both day and night), his beans, pork, potatoes, cheese, 
oats, apple sauce and saur kraut. 

By this time "Blue Crackee" had vanished and a silver 
dollar did not look quite as big as a cart wheel. Numerous 
wild cat Ijanks were started. Like fiddlers in Topliet, cur- 
rency freely circulated, wdiich stuck to many a poor fellow's 
grip too long, who declared he woal4 be glad to trade it 
off for "Blue Crackee." 

He would frequently get up in the morning, 
And read in the papers the solemn warning 
That his money bank had failed; 
That through one night he had entailed 

The loss of his hard earned boodle. 

Where is the Penusylvanian who will not bear me out. 

In saying 'twas a righteous weeding out 

Of Bank of Commerce, and many others that tundilcd tlat, 

From the ghastly wounds of a wild cat — banker. 



286 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

The numerous bank failures in 1S5T-8 and the consc- 
(|uent war demand for an inflation of currency, created a 
uniform national currency, with which one could rest easy 
night and day, especially if he possessed enough of it. 

The increasing business on the canal brought out a 
l)etter line of boats, and much pride was manifested in 
keeping them well painted and in good order, which was 
the home of many a family. There being no railroad in 
this section of the country some mode of conveyance, other 
than the stage, was desired and in 1S4S a line of packets 
was run on the canal, making pretty good time, much to 
the delight and comfort of the passengers. 

These packet boats would stop at any point along their 
line to let off and take aboard passengers and baggage. 
The boat Avould run quickly toward the birm, or to the tow 
})ath. when the sprightly bowsman Avould alight with a line 
with which he could generalh^, under his foot, hold the boat 
to place until all was in readiness, when off she goes at 
the shrill blast l)lown from the steersman's flsh-horn bugle — 
a packet, a packet ahoy — and she glides down the raging- 
canal to the next ancient seaport towns, then called Tight- 
hole, AlI)ion, Crand^N^ille and Lockport. 

lu fond remembrance we look back to those former days, 
The happy days we spent npon this waterway; 
When by one fell swoop a cruel Legislature 
(irave us conveyance of a different nature. 

The g(ujd old canal they knocked out of the ring 
For a railroad, they said was a better thing; 
A blind man with one eye open can see that it is not, 
For when we want to go somewhere we liave got — 
To go over to Bisrelow's Station. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. -^~ 

And we have to hustle and get into an awful .straight. 
Then if we are half a minute late 
Perhaps ^ve will have to wait, another day 
To take the cars on the fast railway. 

But now the people as they go from state to state 
They Avant to go at a rapid rate, 
O'er hills and valleys and o'er the plains, 
They take the rapid railway trains. 



In an Intelligence Office — Agent (to female applicant) 
•Are }'on married or single i " 
Applicant (blushing) — "Najthur, mum; o"im engaged." 



"Yes," said a passenger in a tram car, who was argu- 
ing with a friend, ''some men are born great, others 
achieve greatness and some" — just then a lurch of the car 
landed a fat woman in his lap--" 'and some," he continued, 
'diave greatness thrust upon them." 



Only one man in fifteen in the United States has a life 
or accident insurance polic}' of any sort or kind, and only 
two men out of every thirty-two could leave enough behind 
them to buy a twenty-tive-dollar cemetery lot and pay fu- 
neral expenses. This proves that the general average of 
men have no care beyond the present. 



Hasty words often rankle the w^ound which injury 
gives ; l)ut soft words assuage it, forgiving cures it, and 
forgetting takes away the scar. 



CHAPTER LXXII. 

SPARKS OF HUMOR. 

Judge — "-All the fools have not ceased to practice as 
attorneys, I see."' 

Lawyer — "No, your Honor, there are not judgeships 
enough to provide for the whole of them." 



Patrick — (Just recovering from the effects of ether, in 

the hospital) — "'Oh, where am IT' 

Dr. Savbones — (with a wink) — '"In heaven." 

Patrick — (looking around) — "Then I'd like to know 

l)hawt you're doing here ? " 



Psalmist — "Why do the heathen rage? " 
Cynic — "Probably, because so little of the money sub- 
■^(•ribed for their conversion ever reaches them." 



Ethel Reddy — "Mama, won't you please ask Dr. Dose 
to look at my little sick ducklings? " 

Mrs. Reddy — "No, no, run away, Dr. Dose isn't a bird 
doctor." 

Ethel — "Well, papa said last night he was a (^uack 
doctor." 

Worth Trying. — Rev. Longnecker — "Dear, I wish I 
coukl think of some way to make the congregation keep 
their eyes on me during the sermon." 

Little Tommy — "Pa, you want to })ut the clock right 
Ix'liind the })ulpit.'' 



CHAPTER LXXIII. 




JOHN P. LOCKE. 

HE SUBJECT of this sketch was 
born at Spring Township, Craw- 
ford Count3% Pa., in 1852. He is 
another fortunate being, who was 
not l)orn with a silver spoon in his 
mouth, but at an early age he 
learned the value of a dollar. 

His father, Ira Locke, married 
Nancy Sargent in 1834, who were 
among the early settlers of Sprino-, 
and both of whom lived to upwards 
of eighty years. Mr. Locke was a carpenter by trade, and 
he owned a small farm. Young Locke assisted his father 
in carpenter, framing work and on the little place until he 
was about eighteen years of age. Then he began to look up 
l)usiness for himself, and engaged with L. F. McLauo-h- 
lin to sell nursery in 1860, which business swept through 
Spring like a tornado with all the allurements of the com- 
ing bonanza to the agent. 

The War of the Rebellion came, and he enlisted at Erie 
in Company I Fourteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, on Octo- 
ber 16th, 1862. He seiwed until September 4th, 1865, 
as Quartermaster Sergeant. He received a sabrti wound 
while in the service, but nothing serious, and was considered 
as one of the lucky in coming out of a three-year term of 
armv service in a <jood condition of health. 



19 



290 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

On returning home from the army he did not wait for 
something to turn up, but went to work at what he could 
get, and taught school in winter. Being an industrious 
fellow, he improved his time, consequently was scarcely 
ever out out of a job. He bought some land and went to 
farming, buying additions to his land until now he has a 
good farm of upwards of 100 acres well stocked, and is 
well-to-do. 

The Hon. M. B. Lowry once said on a time, when a 
Pennsylvania regiment ^vas on a railway in Virginia. They 
came to a point where the track was torn up, and the en- 
gine got wrecked. But he said: " You couldn't stop those 
fellows, because they had men in that regiment who rebuilt 
the road, and could make an engine, locomptive, or a Presi- 
dent of theU. S. A." 

And now this man Locke, with his gray hairs, as 
he begins to trip along down the home stretch of life, he 
can congratulate himself that he has provided his family 
vvith a competency — that ho early learned the value of a 
dollar and the ditferencc between a dude or bummer and a 
reliable citizen and an lionest Avorker. 



CHAPTER LXXIV. 

GEMS OF THOUGHT, 

ROOM AT THE TOP. 

Never you mind the crowd, lad; 

Nor fancy your life won't tell. 
The work is done for all that 

To him who doeth it well. 

Fancy the world a hill, lad; 

Look where the millions stop. 
You'll find the crowd at the base, lad- 

But there's always room at the top. 

Courage and Faith and Patience, 
There's space in the old world yet; 

You stand a better chance, lad — 
The f ui'ther along you get. 

Keep your eye on the goal, lad; 

Never despair or drop. 
Be sure your path leads upward — 

There's always room at the top. 



If we bad no faults we should not take so much pleas- 
ure in noticino- tlieni in others. 



Tlie character of a man is found by weighing his acts, 
not by listening to bis speech. 



You can't judge of the value of a man by his talk any 
more than you can judge of the value of the tree by its 
bark. 

Do not despise the opinion of the world. You might 
as well say that you care not for the light of the sun be- 
cause you can use a candle. 



CHAPTER LXXV. 




WILD BEES. 

HE EARLY settler of Si)ring, 
Crawford county, Pa., while en- 
gaged in felling trees in the 
woods, would frequently discover 
a swarm of bees tiying about the 
top of the fallen tree; and as he 
advanced to^vard the swarming 
million some angry honey-maker 
was always ready to salute him 
with a kiss on the lip, ear, nose, or some other prominent 
part of his cranium for ruthlessly invading their "sweet 
home," at which, perhaps for ti score of years, the busy bee 
had toiled. 

From hour to hour, 

From flower to flower, 

To put in order the hollow in the tree 

For a storehouse for the busy honey-bee. 

The next cruel procedure was to i)rocurc some nnilch, 
straw or shavings with which to smoke and destroy the bees 
and proceed to take from the hollow in the tree the honey. 
Sometimes, however, a less barbarous method was used, 
namely: to get a bee-hive and set it properly near l)y and 
get the bees into it, thereby saving them for future useful 
ness. Nature has provided storehouses in the forest of 
different dimensions to suit the queen of the swaim, hence 
the o-reat diflerence in the amount of honey .found in these 



PIONEER SKETCHES. ' 293 

forest bee houses. In former days a swarm would fre- 
quently start out from the apiary and fly on a bee line for 
the tree, apparently which they had previously selected. 

Up in the branches of the tree a small hole, varying 
somewhat in size, leads into the centre of the tree; a hol- 
low, also varying in size from six to eighteen inches wide 
and five to ten feet long, according to the size of the tree, 
is the storehouse of the honey-bee. 

Hunting bee trees was frequently resorted to by the 
bee hunter, who in August or September, with a box, say 
six by eight inches in size, with some honey placed therein, 
would attract to his box a bee which, when loaded with 
honey, would fly to the tree to make a deposit therein. The 
hunter would follow the course of the bee to the tree and 
put thereon his mark, to be cut and the honey gathered 
about the first of October. 

In 1833 Chester Morley, a celebrated nimrod, found a 
bee house in a gigantic chestnut standing upon the land of 
Alfred Sargent, in Spring, Pa. In the fall of the same 
year Morley proceeded to the spot with his pbaraphernalia — 
axe, saw, two buckets, and sap yoke, on which two wooden 
hooks were suspended by moose-wood bark strings attached 
to the buckets from each end of the sap yoke. 

After several hours of incessant lalwr in fellinjr the 
tree he found he had struck a bonanza and got more honey 
than he had bargained for. He had to make seven trips a 
mile and a-half through the woods, with his sap-buckets full, 
to carry away that storehouse of 400 pounds of honey. 
Alfred Sargent said he could have relieved Morley in mak- 
ing one tedious trip just as well as not had Mr. Morley not 
been so timid about asking for such a favor; l)ut Chester 



294 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

sent out no cards: he had his social, his picnic, all to him- 
self, and had lioney enough to salt down for family use for 
some time. 

In J 848, fifteen years later, the writer helped his father, 
Alfred Sargent, to split from tlie said bee tree 300 rails. 

You see Morley got the honey, Bargent got the rails, 
The old nimrod, not content, would shoot our quails; 
Yes, he'd shoot our squirrels, rabbits and crows, 
Our coons, oppossums, and what else God only knows. 

That great hunter, Chester Morley, was one of the })io- 
neers. He became a sleek farmer and a peaceful citizen; 
was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died at the age of 
about 87 years. 




CHAPTER LXXVI. 

FINDING A BEE TREE — BILL, THE OX TEAMSTER - WHEX TO CUT A 

PIG YOKE. 

N A. D. 1851, Alfred Sargent, Alanson 
Whittaker and the writer were cutting 
ash logs on the Silverthorn Farm. 
These logs were cut in lengths of 
twelve to thirty feet long, to be manu- 
factured into oars and sweeps, by 
Ezekiel Page, of Lockport, Pa. 

Bill Burnham, his celebrated ox 
teamster, carried a goad (a stick six 
feet long, with a l)rad in the end) 
which was the whip he used in driving six yoke of cattle, 
when necessary, to haul out of the woods these 30-foot 
logs. 

Well, the day was hot — about the middle of August. 
As we looked up into a good sized hemlock tree, the direc- 
tion an ash tree was aljout to fall, bees were seen flying out 
and into the tree. A consultation was held as to the pro- 
priety of cutting the bee tree that day or to take our chances 
for it later, in October. At this juncture Ox-teamster Bill 
was coming near by, talking to his oxen in a language sim- 
ilar to a Polish bear trainer when he and his bruin are un* 
dergoing a street bear dance. When Bill came up, we told 
him we would leave the matter for him to decide, whether 
to cut the bee tree that day or not, to which he replied that 
he had always observed that the best time to cut a pig yoke 



296 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

was when you found one, as they were scarce. We took 
Bill's advice, and proceeded to cut the tree. The writer 
was sent over to George Silverthorn's to get a permit to cut 
it. George, being a good fellow, said he could use the 
tree the coming winter for lumber, and said I could cut it. 

I looked for a hive or something to make one, but 
George thought it was not best that hot day to attempt 
monkeying with the bees, as they would be sure to probe 
us. I asked him to come along and share the picnic with 
us, to which he assented, and with some straw for a smoker 
we started for the spot. The tree was felled with fair suc- 
cess, about a quart of the honey tilted out in falling. We 
got two 12-quart pails of honey and enough for all to 
smack beside. 

Later, John Herron gave us notice that we had cut his 
bee tree; that he discovered it some weeks before, and 
claimed he put his mark on the roots of the tree under the 
earth; that we must come up to the captain's office and set- 
tle or he would prosecute us. We told him never to put 
his light under a l^ushel (of dirt) but show his mark where 
it could be seen. So the matter ended — 

Mr. Herrou not on hand for auy of that honey, 
Nor any of our party's money. 




CHAPTER LXXVII. 

G. AND S. J. THOMAS were bom in 
Spring, Pa., in 1830 and 1832 respectively. 
^^^iiZ. * Hiey were cousins and the sons of Eri and 
Elijali Thomas, early settlers of Spring. They both went 
to the old district (Stnrtevant) school and shared with us in 
the good old times had at the old-fashioned district school, 
where 84 scholars assembled to learn the primary rudiments 
and to solve the geometrical problem. 

W. G., or Gib, as avc always called him, was a fair 
scholar, a prompt and clever fellow, and generally wore 
boots a few sizes larger than his feet, and served as good 
kickers and skates in sliding down the steep school hill, 
which was a good place to get a pug nose, a peeled shin, or 
a l)roken arm. 

Among -to vigorous country lads nearly of an age and 
size, you might expect when they were let loose from the 
school room that there would be some fun. Cracking the 
whip and wrestling were much indulged in. There were 
half a dozen stout young men who were experts at collar 
and elbow, and a dozen more of the smaller fry who were 
not slow at the business, so that — 

We frequently advertised to :<pell down 
And throw down any school in town. 

One day our teacher (Rush Cole) undertook to punish 
two young girls severely for a trifling cause, and as the 
ruler came cruelly down upon their tender hands, Gib 



298 PIONEER SKETCHES. • 

Thomas arose from his seat and, his eyes snapping at the 
teacher Hke a gladiator, shouted out to him, "You have 
punished those girls enough, and if you strike them again 
I'll strike you I " The teacher's anger vanished and he con - 
eluded that discretion was the better part of valor, and he 
laid his ruler on the pulpit and proceeded with his more 
humane duties — 

With that ruler he'd rap ou the side of the house, 
And occasioually fling it at an invading rat or mouse; 
Such a missile to use on a girl's tender hand, 
It's well such cudgels are banished from the land. 

Some years later Mr. Thomas went a couple of terms 
to the Kingsville Institute, where he formed the acquaint- 
ance of an estimable lady whom he afterwards married and 
who has proved an excellent wife to him. They settled 
upon their farm, and afterwards removed to Yellow Springs, 
Ohio, where he lived a few years, until business matters 
required his presence at the old homestead in Spring, on 
which he tinally settled. 

Mr. Thomas embarked in the nursery stock business 
for a few years and made a success of it. He now resides 
at the home of his birthplace near Shadeland, situate on the 
beautiful eastern slope of Spring Valley, one of the favored 
spots of earth, with a competency for the needs of life. 

From his boyhood W. G. Thomas has been industrious 
and enterprising, a good farmer, })rom})t and honoral)le in 
his dealings, and enjoys tlie confidence of his fellow men. 

S. J. Thomas was ])oru in 1830. He early took to 
learning, debating and declamation, characteristic of his 
uncle (Senator J. S. Broadhead). Young Thomas while 
attending the district school was one of th(> first scholars, 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 299 

and in his glory when debating some subject at debating 
school, or speech making, or in declamation at our evening 
exhibitions, in which he had no peer in the vicinity in which 
he lived. He commenced the study of law at an early age, 
and, being a good speaker, he soon learned to handle well 
and skilfully his cases. His natural ability created a good 
business for him seemingly without much effort on his part. 
His two younger brothers, Jacob and Augustus, died of 
consumption, and that hereditary, fell destroyer also took 
off S. J., when in the prime of life. The remaining brother, 
Frank B. Thomas, is a resident lawyer of Albion, Pa., and 
practices in the Courts of Erie, Crawford and Ashtabula 
Counties. 

We have not space herein to give even a life sketch of 
all the old schoolmates. But to those who are living, will 
say that Obed, Samuel and Justin Wells are in Iowa, farm- 
ing successfully; Jeff. Wells, a chip of the old block, a milk 
dealer in Chicago and farmer in Illinois; Servetus and Cam- 
illus Church are in low^a; Robert McCoy, farmer in Ohio; 
Asa and James McCoy reside at Springboro, Pa ; Dr. S. 
Skeels is at Albion, also John Skeels; John F. Woodard, 
farmer at Girard, Pa. ; Edmund Sargent, hotel keeper in 
Indiana; Asaph and Morrison Sargent, farmers in Iowa; C. 
M. Sargent, flour, feed and groceries, Springboro, Pa.; 
Alfred J. and William Sargent, forwarding and commis- 
sion business, New York City; J. C. Tucker, nursery stock 
dealer and farmer, Springboro, Pa.; Zach. and James 
Tucker, farmers and stock dealers, Spring, Pa. 

Time brings changes to us all, and Avhen we visit the 
old place and scenes of early days, we notice a few of the 
old buildings there, the hills, valleys and rivulets are there. 



300 PIONEER SKETCHES 

l)ut our old schoolmates are scattered well over this conti- 
nent, and many across the river, and all we can say is, suc- 
cess and happiness to the living and peace to the dead. 

There is no place like the old place, 

AVhere you and I were horn; 
AVhere first we lifted our eyelids 

On the splendors of the morn. 

There is no friead like the old friend, 

Who has shared our morning days. 
No greeting like his welcome. 

No homage like his pi'aise. 

Fame is the haughty sunflower 

With gaudy crown of gold; 
But friendship is the hreathiug rose. 

With sweets in every fold. 



CHAPTER LXXVIII. 

GEMS OF THOUGHT. 

What shall I give? To the hungry, give food; to the 
naked, give clothes; to the sick, some comfort; to the sad, 
a word of consolation ; to all you meet a smile and a cheery 
greeting. Give forgiveness to your enemies; give patience 
to the fretful; give love to your households; and, above all, 
give your heart to God. 



Women should be wise as well as true. Men should 
be virtuous as well as wise. The same standard of morality 
should be held for men as well as women. The relations 
of the sexes must be better adjusted, marriage must be 
held as sacred and parentage as the most serious responsi- 
bility. Educate one generation to be pure, just, upright 
and wise, and the next generation will have a fair start. 



It is pleasant to meet people from whom we are sure 
to receive a smile, a kind word, a cordial hand-shake, or 
some other token of good-will. When one is depressed in 
spirits, or, as the common saying is, "blue,'' the meeting 
with a genial, merry-hearted friend has a magical effect. 
Indeed, the encounter with such a person has been known 
to turn the whole current of one's life. Agreeability must 
come from the heart. One feels so comfortable after hav 
ing said or done something to brighten the pathway of an- 
other that it pays one's self to Ije agreeable. 



CHAPTER LXXIX. 



SHADELAND. 



POWELL BROTHERS, CELEBRATED STOCKMEN. 




i'^"}^"'-"^ V 

\t^ 



HADELAND is situated in Spring town- 
ship, Crawford county, Pa., one mile 
north of Springboro, and is the home 
and birtli place of the Powell Brothers, 
the celebrated stockmen. Howell 
Powell, father of the stockmen, origi- 
nally owned and occupied from 300 to 
400 acres of this Shadeland property, 
which now compi'ises aliout 3,000 acres 
of excellent land, and beautifully situ- 
ated in and along both sides of the 
Conneaut Creek Valley, and there is no finer estate in 
Western Pennsylvania. 

The Powell Brothers embarked in the nursery stock 
business in 18r>0 to 1865, and, according to their native 
characteristics and a])ility, they pushed the business to a 
successful termination. Forty men and horses w^ere brought 
into re(|uisilion, and great sales with good i)rofits was the 
result. 

During the war they had an extensive business that 
they could not well drop. Though loyal to the core, they 
were amonir the first to put up the necessary to fill the 
call. 



F/ONKER SKtZTCHES. 303 

Finally, in 18()4:, they went into the live stoek business, 
with their motto ''Excelsior;" and time after time they 
have crossed the stormy seas and throughout Europe they 
have sought to obtain the best stock. Their unflinching 
tenacity of purpose, their untiring perseverance, justly 
entitle them to the fame and the national reputation that 
they now possess — the peer of any stockmen on this conti- 
nent. Too great a tribute can scarcely be paid the Powell 
Brothers for their vast undertakings, great outlays and 
extensive improvements, approximating the perfection of 
stock raising. 

'Tis said that blood will always tell 
lu man, likewise in stock as well. 

Their fine stock comprises Clydesdale horses, Percheron 
Norman or French draft horses, Englishshire horses, Suffolk 
punch horses, Standard bred trotters, French coachers, Cleve- 
land liays, saddle horses, Welsh ponies, Iceland ponies, 
Shetland ponies, Holstein Fressian cattle and Devon cattk^ 

To all those who want to buy fine stock you can obtain 
it of the Powell Brothers, the celebrated stockmen, who 
will at all times extend to you fair dealing and courteous 
entertainment, which is a characteristic of these gentlemen, 
and one of the attributes to their wonderful success in the 
stock business. 






CHAPTER LXXX. 

^=^HE AGENT of to-day has grown to be a man of 
c) importance in his community. His customers 
inckide the whole range of working and business 
life. The laborer at the bench, the toiler in the field, the 
merchant, the professional man, the banker and every 
other member of the liody politic, knows and respects him. 
He is in touch with more varieties of wholesome life than 
any other class of business men living. Behind him may 
be an organization with millions of dollars of assets back- 
ing his every promise. He is the embodiment of the 
qualities which go to make up an honorable success — 
energy, probity, tact, perseverance, good nature and zeal 
— and is the incarnation of something always dear to the 
American fancy "a smart man."' — Ex. 



Timidity creates cowards and never wins success. It 
is a strong and al)iding faith in one's own al)ility to perform 
which overcomes difficulties that others think cannot be 
surmounted. 



CHAPTER LXXXI. 

A. C. QUINBY. 

MAKIXG HOOPS AND SHINGLES — CANAL BOATING — DEALING 
NTTKSERY STOCK— LIVERY AND SALE STABLE. 



51 C 



^^HE SUBJECT of this article is a rare specimen 
y of humanity, easy going and of a cheerful tem- 
v^ perament generally, pugnacious, not quarrelsome, 
l)ut wanted to have his turn in the merry-go-round. He 
wanted to see the ins and outs of a job, didn't propose to 
experiment long at a hard jol) of Mork to find whether it 
would pay. 

In his days of early manhood riving and shaving 
shingles and making hoops was his forte, and he became 
quite an expert in the business, and it w'as as lucrative a 
business as one could engage in and little capital was 
required for an outfit; besides, one could work on the 
shady side of a log, stump or tree, on a hot day. This 
was appropriate, as Clark said he didn't believe in rul)bing 
the hair up or sweating his linen fabric too much. I never 
stopped to argue that matter with him because I thought his 
head was level on the sweating labor question. 

Boating on the Erie & Pittsl)urg Canal frequently 
afforded employment for whole families. Clark bought 
the canal boat Kellog, and with his father and brothers. 
Lew, Marsh and George, made a full crew, w^ith one to 
spare for a reserve corps, and engaged to boat lumber for 
the writer fi'om Conneautville, Spring, Jerusalem, Tight- 
hole, Albion, and other places, to Erie. Many loads were 

20 



306 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

shipped and many happy hours I spent with Capt. Quinby. 
Clark had a pet horse he called Comet — 

He was as big as a moose, 
But he found it was of no use 
To try to make him steady draw 
A basswood horse, if ever you saw. 

However his weight on the tow line meant something, and 
very good time was made. 

Where once was the canal, makes me sad, 
Thinking of the good okl times we had 
Along its line from Pittsburg to Erie; 
Musing o'er those scenes never will grow weary. 

The canal captain will pull his boat up to the shore. 

Always ready to take aboard something more; 

Whether it be lumber, potatoes or your corn, 

When off she goes, driver cracks his whip and toots his horn . 

He will promptly deliver anywhere on the line, 
Albion, Tighthole or at Lock Twenty-nine; 
At a much cheaper rate of expense 
Than it has been transported ever since 
The railroad gobbled the old canal; 
She is entirely a different gal. 

Before the closing of the canal he traded olQf his boat, 
went to work for Powell Brothers, Shadeland, in the 
nursery business, and later he went into the same business 
for himself, and in 1872-3 he removed to Titusville, where 
he with his son are in their element, operating successfuly 
a large livery and sale stable. 



CHAPTER LXXXII. 



THE TRIO. 




^^HE LEGAL TRIO to whom we 
refer is Messrs. A. B. Richmond, of 
Meadville, Pa.; J. B. Burrows, 
Painesville, Ohio, and S. A. North- 
way, of Jefferson, Ohio, who are 
well known throughout Pennsylva- 
nia and Ohio for their logic, elo- 
quence, ingenuity and skill in trying 
cases. 
The individual who finds himself so unfortunate as to 
become entangled in the meshes of criminal law is consid- 
ered lucky in retaining either of the above named gentle- 
men to defend him. 

In the prime of life in legal and literary attainments, 
matured and ripe for the fray, in 1 8-1:4:, A. B. Richmond 
then a youth, was trying one of his first cases, the suit of 
Mr. Cowan vs. Col. Hiram Butler, at Spring, Pa. , wherein 
a large difference existed in the measurement of 400 white- 
wood saw logs, sold by Cowan to Butler. The eminent 
lawj^er, Darwin A. Finney, of Meadville, was arrayed 
against young Richmond, to defend the Colonel. The 
young lawyer created a good deal of amusement in the 
court room by teasing and spurring at his antagonist at 
every oi)p()rtunity. It was a cool day in April, and Mr. 
Finney wore low shoes, with silk stockings, he having an 



308 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

unusual warmth in his feet, produced by a febrile disease, 
the gout, of which young Kichmond took special notice. 

The writer, then quite a young lad, was much amused 
during the trial, to see these Meadville law^^ers exchange 
shots, and on returning home told his father that young 
flaxen-haired Richmond made lots of fun for them, and he 
was going to make a big lawyer, because he had lots of lip 
and wit and as much confidence in himself as a mule. As 
time rolled on, that statement was verified by the grow- 
ing legal business of Mr. Richmond, and he soon be- 
came the leading criminal lawyer of Crawford County, Pa. 
Of him, the country well knows his ability. As well do 
they of the legal lion of the Western Reserve, J. B. Bur- 
rows, who was engaged for the prosecution in the famous 
Jones- Amidon murder case, and A. B. Richmond for the 
defense. 

The crreat trial of eight week^s duration was broujxht 
to a close Friday afternoon, when Stanley M. Jones was 
convicted of murder in the first degree for killing lawyer 
A. A. Amidon, on the evening of August 30, 1880. Jones' 
friends were sanguine that the jury would fail to agree. 
When the verdict was announced Jones did not move a 
muscle nor indicate in any manner that he was the person 
most affected by the awful words, but retained the same 
unconcerned, characteristic action throughout the entire 
trial. His attorneys filed a motion for a new trial, Avhich 
came up for hearing Wednesday, June 11th. The shoot- 
ing occurred on Friday, and as the jury brought in a 
verdict on Friday it caused the superstitious to hint that 
Jones was doomed. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 309 

Jones was sentenced to be hung, but in April and May 
a petition was circulated and signed by many hundreds of 
citizens for a commutation of the death sentence to that of 
im})risonment for life. This the Pardon Board granted, in 
June, 1891. 

S. A. Northway is also famous for the masterly man- 
ner in which he throws his whole soul into the work in try- 
ing important cases. For instance, the great Webster trial 
for the murder of Perry Harrington. 

We shall not attempt herein to write a life sketch of 
these eminent legal gentlemen. Suffice it to say — 

That few jurists yet were ever made 
To wield a strouger, sharper blade, 
lu Penusylvania or in the State of Ohio, 
Thau either of this famous legal trio. 



CHAPTER LXXXIII. 



CONNEAUT LAKE. 




HIS BEAUTIFUL inland lake 
in Sadsburg Township, Crawford 
County, Pa., now about five miles 
long and three miles wide, from the 
topography of the country around it 
seems to have been much larger on 
fsome former day. On its shores where 
now stand fine residences, hotels and 
summer resorts, a century ago was the 
bivouac and resort of the Indian. Con- 
neaut Lake and the Pymatuning, from 
relics, early malaria and ague, abundant fish, game and 
millions of pigeons, conspired to create a paradise for the 
Indian. To the outlet of this lake was the spot where they 
took their captive Van Horn, whom they captured on the 
Meadville Flats in the spring of 1795. 

The peqietration of many of the cruel atrocities of the 
red UK^n upon the white man, probably to a great extent 
was due to the feeling that he looked ujoon the white man 
as his enemy, invading his original domain. When we 
consider that the same malignant spirit exists to an alarm- 
ing extent among the white races let us, Uke Pope, have 
some forbearance, for — 

Lo, the ])Oor Indian, whose untutored mind 
Sees God in clouds or hears him in the wind, 
His soul's proud science never taught to stray 
Far as the solar walks or treads the milkv wav. 



PIONEER SKE TCHES. 311 

Then let the heritage and untutorship of the Indian to 
some degree offset the lunatic frenzy of the white man of 
to-day. 

In the winter of 1835 Amos Fish was driving WilHs 
Benedict's team with a sleighload of grain from Evansbm'g 
to Harmonsburg. While crossing Conneaut Lake, when 
near the iniddle the ice gave way. Mr. Fish jumped from 
the sleigh and saved himself, but the team and load went 
under the ice and were lost. 

About the same time Frederick Bolard on horse back, 
and Wicks Parker with a team and wagonload of goods, 
came to the lake, and when Mr. Bolard proposed to go 
around it Mr. Parker laughed at him and drove on the ice. 
When part way across they found the ice sunk about one 
foot under the water. When Mr. Bolard thought of turn- 
ing l)ack his heart bounded within him, and he said that at 
that moment he would have given all he possessed to be off* 
the ice and safe on land. But Mr. Parker drove on and 
Bolard followed him in awful suspense, and was greatly 
relieved when nearing the shore. When men will venture 
like this with loaded teams out upon the ice, how can we 
expect that boys will not venture, too, upon the glary, 
bending ice on their skates, with frequently the sad result 
of going under the ice to rise no more ? 

John McMurtry, of Sadsbury, Pa., who died in 18S5 
at the advanced age of 102 years, was a soldier in the War 
of 1812 and the Mexican War, being in the advance guard 
in entering the City of Mexico. He lived a life of single 
blessedness; had contracted marriage in an early day, was 
jilted: l)ut hiter a daughter of his affianced bore him a 
daugliter, on which offspring he be(iueatlied the sum of 
|;>,00O, though i)revious to this becpiest the girl married 



312 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

well and is now living in Meadvillc. His sister, Sallie, 
who married Snowden Barrickman, and who now lives in 
the Pymatiiming Swamp, is 90 years of age. 

John McTcer, an old settler of Hayfield Township, 
Pa., was unjustly charged with killing a man at Conneaut 
Lake and was sent to the penitentiary for life; he served a 
term of ten or twelve years and was then pardoned. The 
man who committed the murder for which McTeer was 
convicted, upon his death bed confessed that he done the 
awful deed; thereupon McTeer was released. This is an 
instance where the innocent was made to sufter for the 
crime of the guilty. James McDowell, brother of Alex 
and John F. McDowell, informed my ancestor that he was 
engaged with Aaron Burr on an expedition down the Ohio 
River, which turned out to be rather a nefarious and spec- 
ulative venture, and the expedition was authoritativel}^ 
checked, which business we understand to have been 
runnino- off neg-roes via the underground railroad. 

Alex and John F. McDowell, of Summerhill, wei'e old 
settlers who weie in the Revolutionary War and the War 
of 1812, whose descendents now hold some of the old Con- 
tinental money. After the war they built a distillery near 
Dixonburg, Pa., at which place and upon their farms they 
lived many years, up to the time of their demise. 

Jeremiah Hadlock emigrated from Vermont at an 
earl}^ day and settled in the woods of Richmond Township, 
Pa., sixteen miles east of M.eadville, and cleared up a 
farm. He died at the age of 92 years from the effects of a 
tree falling on him, breaking one of his legs and injuring 
his si)ine. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 313 

Freeman Hadlock, a son of Jeremiah, also took up 
160 acres of government land across the street opposite his 
father's, and lived upon said hind many years. He said it 
seemed to be more work to clear the land of the numerous 
sand rocks than of the timber. A sad accident happened 
on the place: Lucinda Hadlock, a young girl eight years 
of age, fell into a spring on the farm near the house, and 
was drowned. Mr. Freeman Hadlock now lives in Dorset, 
Ashtabula County, Ohio, at the advanced age of 93 years, 
in the enjoyment of quite good health. 

If the people throughout our country would })an out 
like the McMurtrys and Hadlocks we could soon refer 
back wdlh good grace, in longevity, to the days of Noah. 



CHAPTER LXXXIV. 




K. D. CHEESEMAN 

ORN IN ALBION, PA., where 
he attended school. At the age 
of 15 or 16 he eno;ao:ed to work 
for A, Denio, proprietor of the 
Handle Mills (now Otsego Fork 
Mills), Miles Grove, Pa., where 
he faithfully served his employer 
day in and day out; and when 
Mr. Denio consolidated his steel 
mills at Baldwinsville, N. Y., 
and handle mills and removed and rebuilt the same at Miles 
Grove Mr. Cheeseman went with him in the capacity of 
foreman in the wooden department of the ccleljrated Otsego 
Fork Mills. And during the long space of thirt}^ years 
R. D, Cheeseman has accom})lished one thing which the 
writer could not even hope to do, viz: through all those 
years he has faithfully seized his employer ten hours per 
day, wdiich will prol)ably foot up more hours of constant 
daily toil than can be dui)licated Ijy few in Erie county; 
and should his sun not go down at noonday, he bids fair to 
remain in the same capacity for coming decades. 

Mr. Cheeseman is a man of tempcrnte and frugal habits, 
has a pleasant home, a family (wife and two children), who 
apparently enjoy the CA^en tenor of hfe in the i)leasant vil- 
lage of Miles Grove, Pa. 




CHAPTER LXXXV. 

p. O. PAUL. 

THE GANDER— AGENT— STAGING — LIVERY — NURSERY STOCK — HOHSE 

DEALER. 

O. PAUL was born in Conneuut Township, Erie 
County, Pa., whore he spent his boyhood antl 
youthful days on the farm. 

An incident is related of him when a l)oy of live or six 
years. His uncle Prosper Keep had a cross gander which 
he promised to give to the l)oy Paul if he Avould carry him 
home. The boy eagerly grappled onto the gander and 
started homeward. There were a pair of bars he had to pass 
which were made in the old-fashioned style from si)lit timber 
and were heavy. Here came the query how to manage the 
gander, as he would have to use both hands to let down and 
put up those heavy bars, and when young Paul came to the 
bars he put the gander on the ground and placed his feet 
upon each wing, and in this position he held his gander 
until he had let down and put up the l)ars. When his 
uncle and father saw that he could manage that gander they 
concluded that he could get through the race course of life. 

At the age of 1() he had a desire to do somethins: for 
himself other than farming, and engaged to sell nursery 
stock for L. C. McLaughlin, Si)ring, Pa. Later he got 
married and worked his father's farm some three years, and 
during a portion of the time taught school and sold light- 
ning rods for a year. Afterwards he removed to Titusville 
with his family and went staging from that place to Pleas- 



310 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

antville and Sliamburg, and when business became dull he 
ran a livery and sale stable in Titusville for some years. 
Later, Bullion, Red Rock and Bradford fields were tried, 
when be returned to Springl)oro and engaged in the nursery 
stock business on his own account, and has for years past 
continued in that business, having in the meantime l)uilt a 
tine residence at Springboro. On said premises and upon 
his farm is kept a good stock of horses, and among the 
fleetest, over which he takes as much pleasure in pulling 
the reins as he did in his boyhood days stepping on the 
winofs of the ofandcr. 



CHAPTER LXXXVL 




A. C. MARTINDALE. 

I HE SUBJECT of this sketch is more 
than an ordinary man. Mr. Martin- 
dale iirst came to onr notice in 1850, 
at Albion, near where he pm'chased 100 
acres of land. He engaged in boating 
on the Erie & Pittsburg Canal in the 
coal trade from Sharon and elsewhere 
to Erie, Pa. 

In the winter of 1854-5 Mr. Mar- 
tindalc contracted to furnish Andrew 
Hofsies, of Erie, a large quantity of propeller steamboat 
wood, to be delivered on the Public Dock at Erie the f ollow- 
inc. summer. He proceeded with his usual native goahead- 
atrveness to the work; a gang of wood choppers were set to 
work in his woods, while he and others with oxen and sleds 
were en^acred in hauling the wood to the birm side of the 
canal at jrckson^s, near Albion, about a mile distant from 
the woods. Mr. Martindale drove a large yoke of cattle, 
and the man who hauled as much wood as he from daylight 
until dark had something to do. Before springtime he had 
hundreds of cords of the best kind of beech and maple 
wood, cut four feet long, piled up on the bank of the canal 
ready for shipment on the opening of navigation. 

There was lots of hard work in this wood business and 
not as much money as there should have been, but Martin 
dale made it pay, anyhow, by doing a good share of the 
work himself. During six or eight months of the year he 
would slop the shoemaker and ask no odds of his sole 



318 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

leather or uppers on his feet. He could chase a mink or a 
coon through the woods or through thistle and brier patches 
barefooted, as unerringly and with all the avidity of a 
hound after a deer. When Abe Martindale started out 
after a mink or a coon, with his dog and axe, they were his 
meat, sure. 

Well Abe, like Davy Crockett, liked recreation, and 
on ofi* business days you could see him circulating around 
his neighbor's premises, four or live miles oft', inspecting 
their crop of rabbits, mink and coon, and he would be sure 
to carry some of them home at night, as trophies of the day. 
He was unpretentious, generally minding his own business, 
a ofood talker, and a hard worker. He did not wait for a 
golden opportunity to turn up, but he set to work and 
turned up something. This was his nature. 

In the vicinity where Mr. Martindale lived there was 
a good deal of l)eech timber in the forest and many beech 
nuts grew upon the trees. Abe conceived the idea that 
hogs could be wintered cheaply on, beech nuts, and he soon 
became the owner of several hundred hogs. These porkers 
began to help their owner 'turn up something,' and it came 
to pass that these rooters began to plow his neighbor's land 
at rather an unpropitious time of the year. Mr. Martindale, 
however, was not the man to trespass upon his neighbor, and 
generally kept a vigilant eye upon his drove, and when he 
found his pigs were going for his neighbor's angle worms he 
took them away, and when the shack season was over, and 
these l)eech nuts had propagated scions (young beech trees) 
corn planting time came on, acres of corn were planted, 
and when the corn had formed a stalk, yet uneared, loads 
of it were cut for the pigs, whicli was devoured with a relish, 
stalk, silk, leaf and tassel. They nnist have something 
to till even up so they could breathe a healthy hog grunt. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 319 

It is too expensive in Pennsylvania to make a grunting 
hog fat on solid corn, and Abe knew this as well as any 
one, and he emerged from the hog business smilling. 
Presently you see upon his farm six or eight hundred sheep; 
and he gave the sheep, lamb, mutton and wool business a 
thorough test. He did nothing by the halves ; whatever he 
engaged in, he threw his whole soul into the business, and 
when the time came for a change he was on deck for a shift. 

Next we see him stocking up his farm with horses — 
colts principally. Later, Mr. Martindale being aware that 
there were many abandoned farms in the oil region, Pitt- 
hole and vicinity, there you see him with fifty or sixty 
cows, engaged in selling the lacteal fluid, also butter and 
buttermilk, to the denizens of Oil City and Titusville. 
And yet later, he engaged in manufacturing lumber near 
Titusville. During the past few years he has bought addi- 
tions to his farm near Albion, which now comprises several 
hundred acres of good land. 

We find him now quietly engaged upon his farm in the 
poultry business, with nearly a thousand chicks. He pro- 
poses to be second to none in his region in the hen fruit 
business. Success to you, Abe. 

It makes no difierence whether he wants to go shod or 
bare-footed a portion of the year, his im})rints are his own, 
and he has made his mark on more than one landscape. 
Always industrious, genial and apparently happy, rendering 
unto Cajsar the things that are his, and, for aught we know, 
unto God the things that are his; and the people in his 
neigh])orhood will know that Abe Martindale lives among 
them to be congratulated. 

As he marches down the hillside of life. 
Through past scenes of varied strife; 
And with his ritle, wad or leaden bullets, 
From his dunghill can shoot his pullets. 



CHAPTER LXXXVII. 




LEXINGTON. 

TS NAME derived froin*Revoliiicnary 
fame, was settled in 18 — , by people 
from New York and tlie New Eng- 
land States, ins whose veins coursed 
the blood of their sires of Lexington 
of ""old. 

K) Among its'^'earlier settlers were 

Elijah Diiry Jolmson, Ray S. Silverthorn, Rattil)one, 

Judge Miles, Mathew Anderson, Sanford Salisbury, Eber 
Holbrook, Simeon Knight, Philip Bristol (a pioneer school 
teacher at Lexington), Peter Holbrook, John Hay, Robert 

Large, Samuel and Cornelius Ball, Cook, William 

and Daniel Sawdy, Seth Devore, Strong, Hymenius 

and Zedock Smith, and others. 

These early settlers of Girard and Lexington, as else- 
where, had to underg(3 their trials and privations in early 
life, but they rose equal to the occasion. 

They wisely chose and settled upon one of the most 
favored spots of earth — a prolific soil, excellent water and 
timber, throughout Girard, Fairview and Millcreek. A 
healthy climate, exceedingly so, according to Dan Rice's 
version of it, who said he lived in the healthiest place in 
the world; there were no deaths among the early settlers for 
forty years, and then they had to send ofl" forty miles to buy 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 321 

a corpse to start a biuyin^^ ground. But this is Dairs Avay 
of putting it. 

Thrilling scenes and incidents happened among the pio- 
neers. Two girls, Jane and Elizabeth Hanna, while on their 
way to school, when at Crooked Creek, saw a couple of 
black, curly puppies, near the stream. They took after 
the little beauties and gave them a lively chase. Presently 
the pups started to climb a tree and one of them fell back 
to the ground. The girls caught it, and it instantly gave a 
startling cry, and the mother of the cubs came growling after 
them. The girls had found more than they bargained for. 
They ran to the school house, considering themselves quite 
fortunate in getting oif without the prize. 

Such like and other causes had a tendency to make 
some of the stalwart boys and girls tardy, late at school, 
and the school master said that he would have to punish 
the scholar who should be ten minutes late at school, with 
out a sufficient reason from the parent. One Ame Ball, 
who was noted for his inllation of matters and thinofs in 
general, came into school one morning late and puffing. 
The teacher said : 

"What made you so late. Ball r' 

Ball— -'Chased by a bear.'^ 

Teacher — -'Where? " 

Ball — "-Down near the creek." 

Teacher — "How big was the bear? " 

Ball — "Big as that yearlin' out there." 

Teacher- -"How long was his tail ? " 

Ball — "Oh, God; long as my arm." 

21 



322 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

''Teacher — That bear's tail was too long; you may stand 
up here."' Then a good dose of l^eeoh oil was administered 
to him for his tardiness and his long bear "tale.'' 

Captain David Saw^d}' settled in Lexington in 1814. 
He was a sea captain and owned the ship Nancy Belle. At 
the connneneemcnt of the War of 1812 he sailed to Sweden 
and loaded his ship with Swedish iron and steel, which 
would have yielded him immense profits had he reached 
American shores with it. But fate was against him. As 
he was off the coast of Scotland his ship sprung a leak and 
he Avas compelled to put into the port of Glasgow for 
repairs. 

The autlun'ities there took advantage of his situation, 
seized his ship and cargo, imprisoned the captain and crew, 
confiscated his property and left him penniless. 

Being released in the course of a year he made his wa}' 
to Philadelphia, where he became acquainted wath a Quaker 
lady whom he married, and she furnished him money to 
buy 300 acres of land and to build a store and blacksmith 
shop, which place he named Lexington. Li 1836 he was 
elected to the Legislature, where he serxed his constituents 
well. Returning to Lexington he settled upon his farm, 
where he spent the most of his time (juietly until death. 




CHAPTER LXXXVIII. 

S. SALISBURY. 

x\NFORD and his wife, Sarah Salisbury, emi- 
grated from Corthmd County, N. Y., in 18^4. 
and settled upon land about one mile northeast of 
Loek[)ort, Pa., where, in due course of time, the tim1)er 
was cleared off and a good farm opened for cultivation, 
and a saw mill erected on the place. Like other early 
settlers in a primeval forest, they had to hew their way. 
Their family consisted of eleven children, seven boys and 
four girls. 

Sanford Salisbury, though a (juiet man antl a good 
farmer, possessed a rare mechanical genius, which was 
developed in the family, especially Henry, Darius, Tracy 
and Lawrence. Some incidents in the life of his eldest son 
Henry we might mention. When a youth of sixteen 
years, a neighbor (Mr. Sherman) had a water power saw 
mill that did not run to his satisfaction, whereupon the boy, 
Henrw told Mr. Sherman that he could rior his mill to run 
much l)etter. The owner, somewhat skeptical however, 
set the boy to work, when in a short space of time that 
saw mill danced a much livelier g-ait. 

Soon after he went to Hancock, N. Y., whcvv he built 
a mill on the Deleware River, at which place he married 
and later returned to Lockport,* where he improved and in- 
vented machinery for Ezekiel Page, in his large oar factory: 
and later, assisted by his brother Tracy, built the lirst oar 
blading machine and improved oar turning lathe, used at 



'^^"^ PIONEER SKETCHES. 



Albion, Pa., Richmond and Edgerlon, Ohio, at which 
latter place, in companj' with Wm. Wel^b, of New York, 
and Henry E. Salisbury, they done a large business in the 
manufacture of oars. Having passed through former diffi- 
culties, and when in the height of a prosperous and a 
future prospective business, his wife died, and a few months 
later he followed her. 

Sanford Salisbury and sons, Henry, James and Darius, 
built and run one of the tirst canal boats on the Erie &, 
Pittsburg Canal. And, later, he and his son James built 
and sold the first revolving wooden horse hay rake used in 
the country, which are still in use and have proved to be 
one of the l)est labor-saving implements, for its cost, ever 
invented. Messrs. Cook and Salisbury sold many of them. 

James went to Kansas in an early day, 

AVhere he found an elephant in the way, 

He found a Lecompton and a Topeka constitution. 

One for, the other against a slavery institution. 

However, he built a cabin on his Jand, 
And Avent to Avork with a willing- hand; 
When be was ordered to get up and go, 
"No," said Jim, "that I will never do. 

I have as good a right to Kansas laud 

As you, border ruffians, or any other man: 

On the soil of Kansas I'm going to make my home. 

Whomsoever else may come." 

Time passed on, mid trials and tril)ulafion. 
While some left their places of destination: 
When the breeze kicked up by John Brown's i-aper 
Gave to Kansas an anti-slavery legislature. 

Thrilling scenes there enacted, and in other j^laces 
AVhen in '60 pro-slavery kicked clear out of its traces. 
Lincoln being elected, he sailed the ship aright. 
But during his voyage he had an ungodly fight! 



PIONEER SKETCHES. '^25 

Early in '65, when peace was echoed through the land, 
The great Lincoln, cut down by the assassin's hand, 
.Shocked many millions for the sjjell 
His tragic death by a demoniac of hell. 

The people of Kansas having Ijeen loyal to themselves 
and to their country, they now enjoy a common heritage of 
a free State, free schools, under a system second to none in 
the Union, and has made greater advancement than per- 
haps any other State in the same space of time. 

James P. Salisbury, I understand, introduced the first 
mowino- machine into Kansas, Avhich he used in cutiino: 
large quantities of hay, for which Fort Leavenworth fur- 
nished an excellent market in the early settlement of Kan- 
sas, it being the great station for the overland wagon trains 
to purchase their outfit. 

He was captain of a military company to aid in driv- 
ing General Price from their Ijorders; afterwards elected 
to the State Senate. Having acquired a competency for 
old age. he quietly resides on his farm, near Leavenworth. 

Darius, third son of Sanford and Sally Salisbury, re- 
moved to Ashtabula County, Ohio, in 1855 and purchased 
eighty acres of land, containing some twenty acres of up- 
land, the remainder being hillsides and flat land, with the 
Ashtabula Creek running through it, on which was consid- 
tn'able timber on the hillsides and bottom lands and an un- 
known quantity of stone in the creek bed, and a mountain- 
ous, circuitous hill to climb up and down, long and steep 
enough to tire a greyhound in making one round trip \\\i 
and do\vn this declivity. 

Darius beino- lured on in the belief that there was great 
value to be derived in a future day from the timber and 
stone, he ]>uilt a sa\y-mill to cut a portion of said timber 



326 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 



into lum1)er, which was done in time, perhaps, with some 
})rotit for the few years that the mill stood, and with a 
o-reat deal of hard work. But afterwards, every cord of 
wood and every cord of stone that he got out of that hell- 
hole cost him more than he got for it. He being a good 
mechanic his two hands, most anywhere out on God's do- 
main, would have netted him more than any team and 
wagon hauling wood and stone out of that gulf of Charybdis. 
Though he was a man of small stature, he stood up 
heroically l)attling with the logs and rocks, his farm work 
inteniiixed with other arduous work on that place and 
vicinity for nearly thirty }ears of incessant toil. When, 
through over over work and exhaustion, he took to his bed 
he was the most patient sulferer for six months I ever saw, 
when he peacefully passed away. 

As he toiled o'er life's rugged way 
Characteristically he looked for a better day; 
Patiently, heroically, he lingered on, 
Awaiting his departure to the great beyond. 

Tracy, the mechanic, is at Ashtabula, and working in 
(liferent parts of Ohio. Albert and Lawrence live in 
Albion, Erie County, Pa., the former as a gardener prin- 
cipally. Though a natural mechanic, he was jirevented 
fi'om striking out in any particular line on account of poor 
health for man}^ years of his earl^^ life. 

Lawrence, after leaving the farm to go to where the 
family had removed in ^^'illiams County, Ohio, returned to 
Albion and went to work for James Van Sickle, who fur- 
nished him a kit of tinner's tools with Avhich to make cups, 
basins, tin pans, sap buckets, and to roof buildings. On 
the evening of the first day's service he came out a full- 
fledged tinner. He continued his tinsmithina' at good 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 327 

wages for several years and then struck out for liiuiself and 
for the past twenty years he and his sons have dispensed 
the tin and hardware business in all its varieties. Some 
years ago his former employer removed from Albion, leav- 
ino; to Lawrence clear sailino; ''alone to his oh^-v."* 

Diana, the eldest daughter, died at the old homestead 
in 1850, aged 22. 

]\Ialvina married the writer of this sketch in 1 S.")4^, with 
whom she now lives at Ashtabula, Ohio. 

Maria married Willi am Keyes, with whom she was 
living in 1871: in Wisconsin at the time of her death. 

Eliza R. Salisbury, the youngest daughter, li\'es near 
Leavenworth, Kansas, where she has spent the greater por- 
tion of her life. 

Cyrus, the second youngest boy, in 1861 serAed nearly 
a year in the arm}-, up to the close of the war. He died 
on the farm in Williams County, Ohio, a 3-ear afterwards. 

Sanford Salisbury, the father, died in Williams County, 
Ohio, at an advanced age. 

Sally Salisl)ury, the mother, died in All)ion, Pa., in 
1885, whither she had removed from Williams County, 
Ohio, after the death of her husband and son, in the full 
enjoyment of all her faculties up to the closing drama of an 
exemplary Christian life, beloved by all who knew her. 

A kind word she had for all with a good cheer. 
Withholds for us her nieinory dear; 
A gleam of siuishiiie flit o'er her radiaut face, 
Alwavs ))etokeiiinir a Christian irrace. 



CHAPTER LXXXIX. 



LOCKPOBT— CEANESVILLE — ALBION — GIRABD— ACROSS LAKE ERIE IX A 

CANOE. 

ACOB COFFMAN was the tiist 
settler in Lockport, having removed 
from Somerset County, Pa., in 180() 
to Lock]:)ort, where he settled on 
lands near the present site of the 
villasfc. He raised quite a large 
family, and was grandfather to the 
present race of CofFmans, now resi- 
dents of Lockport. 

Some of the early settlers and 
])usiness men were Wm. Tylei% 
Wm. Aldrich, Mr. Leech, Sidney 
Sawdy, Eli Sawdy; and at the time 
of building the locks of the Erie & Pittsb\u-g Canal, 184(>- 
43, Messrs. Baldwin, Himrod & Co. were prominent figures 
in trade, when they had scores of teams Avith sleds from all 
parts of the country hauling stones in winter from a quarry 
about three miles east of the place, to be used in building 
the Lockport locks. Money didn't make the mare go in 
those days in Lockport near as nuich as did *• ' Blue Crackee, " 
a scrip generally used ])y that firm to pay oft" the teamsters 
and quarry men. Occasionally you could discount a crackee 
to get 2'> cents to pay postage on a letter, or such like; but 
the inevitable crackee was llie legal tender for labor, dry 
goods and provisions, oi- toi)ay the ''l)oot"" in a cow, colt, 
or horse trade. 




riOXEER SKETCHES. 329 

Finally the canal was built and boating commenced, 
which brought in some "shad-scales'" (silver) and currency 
sufficient for the Ijenelit of a sore eye. which in time was 
healed. 

Quaint chaps and incidents apparentl}' hovered, as else- 
where, about Lockport. One morning John Eaton met 
Canal Superintendent Colt. Eaton had been turning a 
\vicket in one of the locks, and Colt said: "Hello, sirl 
Stop that."" "'Who are you '. "' said Eaton. "I am Super- 
intendent Colt, of Erie." "Well,'' said Eaton, "if you 
are the colt of Erie, I am the 'boss' of Lockport." 

Colt drove off laughing for the while, 
While Eatou let his wicket bile 
Awhile, then shut the wicket of the lock 
And went off crowiug like a game-cock. 

CRANESVILLE. 

This l)urg is one of the has beens. It sprang into ex- 
istence at the opening of the Erie & Pittsburg Canal. 
Among its early settlers were Adenijah Crane, Fowler and 
Elihu Crane, the Bradishes. Randalls, farmers, and EUsha 
Cook. Adam Deet and John Connor, in trade. 

ALBION. 

Situated one mile south, one the line of the old E. & P. 
Canal, where now is located the Shenango Railroad. This 
has been quite an enterprising village for the past forty 
years. Several important concerns have ))een in operation 
during that time — foundry, grist-mill, saw-mills, oar factory, 
handle factory, woollen mill, rake factory, blacksmith 
shops, stores, hotels, schools and churches. Its early set- 
tlers w<' have mentioned elsewhere. 



330 nONEER SKETCHES. 

Albion recently lost its leading spirit in the person of 
Jeduthan Wells, who was engaged in various lousiness ven- 
tures wdiich, while benefiting himself, redounded to the benefit 
of the connnunity. He did more for the people, during his 
biLsiness, official and clerical career, than perhaps any other 
man in Albion. He was a kind-hearted, reliable Christian 
man, who dared to show his colors and to speak his views 
on all occasions. 

That the reader may know that Girard Township Avas 
something of a bear section in its day, we mention an inci- 
dent related and experienced l)y John K. "Ward, who is 
now living, hale and hearty, at the age of al)Out 92 years. 
He says he was the first white child born in Girard Town- 
ship, Pa., near the lake north of Miles Grove, at which 
place he lived more than four score years until 18S6, when 
he removed to Michigan, where he is now living with a 
relative. In early days, when he was a youth, the present 
site of Miles Grove was a dense wilderness. He was per- 
ambulating in the wood and when near the spring and little 
run southeast of the Postoffice, he came upon a l)ear and 
her cub. A smalksized dog he had ^vith him commenced 
l)arking and the cub ran a short distance, followed by its 
mother. The cub climbed up a tree, and the mother see- 
ing her cul) safely elevated in the tree, turned U})on the dog 
and young Ward for Avar. Young Ward didn't fancy the 
determined look of his shaggy belligerent, and he, too, 
climbed a tree and left the bear master of the situation. 
For his amusement he would set the dog onto the liear, 
when she would start ofl'to tlie cub's tree, soon to return to 
take another grin at her Johnny up in the tree, Johnny 
saw the sun sinking fast rn the western horizon, and the 
idea of his roosting all night on his lofty })ercli, with the 




P-^^ik^ 



TREED BY A BEAE. 



332 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

appalling thought that should he go to sleep and fall from 
the tree, he would either break his neck or make a break- 
fast for the bears, was anything l)ut encouraging. Necessity 
being the mother of invention, he hissed his dog, who went 
ferociously for the bear, and when she started away from 
the tree he slid down therefrom and ran for his life, reach- 
ing home safely just at dark. 

About five miles west of Girard. in. the townshi}) 
of Springfield, on the lake shore, an early settler whose 
name Ave have not, was chopping on the bank of the lake 
when a deer came at full speed, followed closely b}' a hound. 
The deer made directly for the water, T)ounding into lake 
and swam out into it, thus eluding his pursuer. The Avood 
chopper quickly launched his log canoe, which he had near 
by, not Avaiting to put on his hat, but took his axe and a 
single paddle oar Avith him and started in pursuit of the 
deer. He paddled like a beaver, and all went well for a 
Avhile, with some prospects of venison, Avhen suddenly there 
came up a brisk land breeze. Avhich steadily increased, and 
he soon found that he hadn't suflicicnt propelling poAver to 
reach shore, and his only alternative Avas to go before the 
wind straight for Canada, where he safely arrived the next 
day. He did not care to venture a return trip across the 
lake in his log canoe, so he set out on foot doAvn the Cana- 
dian shore to opposite Buffalo, from where he was ferried 
across the Niagara River, thence from Buffalo up the shore 
to the scene fiom whence he started. His friends finding 
his hat on the shore and himself and canoe gone, Averc much 
alarmed OA'er his mysterious disappearance during a period 
of seven days, but rejoiced Avhen he returned to relate his 
deer exi)erience. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 333 

Medad Pomeroy was one of the early settlers of 
Lexington; was born in Massachusetts and came to Lex- 
ington in 1815; married, had a family of twelve children, 
eight bo3'S and fom^ girls; was a soldier in the Kevolu- 
tionary War and was womided seven times at the battle of 
Germantown and others. After settling at Lexington he 
engaged in farming and lived to the age of 97 years, which 
closed the drama of a long, useful and eventful life. 

Among the early settlers of Albion and vicinity were: 
the Rev. Sturtz, Enos King, Obediah and Michael Jackson, 
Francis Randall, Pearson Clark, Wm. Warner, Elisha 
and Michael Alderman, Sheffield and Stephen Randall, the 
Wickwins, Brooks, Amplers and Alsworth Cole, John 
llerron. Prosper Keep, Park and Samuel Paul, David and 
riohnathan Spaulding, Wm., James and Harley Sherman, 
Julius Wells and Maj. Fleming, of Lundy's Lane, Geo. 
Colton, Martin Hartson, Mr. Culver, Jaliez antl Samuel 
Clark, Chas. Scott, Hiram Griffith, David and Samuel 
Smith and the Joslyns. The above named were an earnest 
body of men who had to cut their way through many 
obstacles, and build many miles of corduroy road to ride 
over. Were good citizens, generally, and paid their honest 
debts. Was acquainted with most of them, some, however, 
I have not seen since I was eight years old ; Barney Cole, in 
particular, the country shoemaker who measured my foot 
to make my lirst pair of boots, with the enjoiner to l)e sure 
to make them large to fit a young kid's growing foot. 

''Certainly," said the shoemaker, "and I will have 
them made for you in three weeks. " 

I was highly elated with the idea of having a new pair 
of boots in three weeks and my youthful imagination was 



334 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

worked up with the thoughts of coming winter, and how 
much l)otter I would be fixed, in liouncing into snow banks 
or wading through mud puddles and streams, than some of 
the hoys Avith shoes on. Finall}^ the long-looked-for day 
came when my boots were to l>e done, and I mounted Old 
Fan and set out for the shoemaker's, through wood and 
field, down the Conneaut Creek valley, three mile; an-iving, 
the shoemaker haid: 

''Well, my boy, I have not got your boots done; have 
l)ecn drove with work, and you come next week for them." 

Patiently I waited and thought of the good time 
coming, and in one week appeared at the shoemaker's, 

"Well, my young lad, your boots are not done yet. 
1 stuck an awl in my thumb, and I had to take a deer 
Imnt. But you come in one week and get your boots, and 
they Avill he dandies." 

I had waited fiv^ weeks and traveled twelve miles and 
yet got no boots. But, as faith and patience remove 
mountains and soothes a l)rokcn heart, I Availed as serenely 
as possible. When the six Aveeks Avere up I Avent for my 
boots, Avith mingled thoughts oi doubt and happiness. 
The boots Avcre made, l)ut my feet had been groAving all 
this time and I couldn't get my boots on. The shoemaker 
put some talloAv on my socks and inside of my boots, and 
finally I slipped my feet into them. With accents of joy 
and sorrow I exclaimed, "'You have been so long making 
them, my foot has outgrown the l)oots." 

••Never mind, my boy; if they ai-e pretty tight now, 
Avhen you Avear them out in the Avet they Avill stretcli and 
be easy on your feet.'' 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 335 

The l)oots were made of heavy cowhide upper.s and 
heavy soles, hemlock tanned, and made in the strong, good 
old style. But "give and be easy on my feet,'' as the 
shoemaker said — "give, no !" — when night came I was 
glad to get them oflf and give vent to my feet. 

Reader, if you ever waut your patience tried, 
Get a pair of boot^i made small, from cowhide; 
Of liendock tauued sole and upper leather, 
They'll give you corns, in dry or rainy weather. 

Yes, just as sure as you are born. 
On top your toes they'll breed a corn; 
You'll wish the shoemaker ne'er was born, 
To put you in such pain — forlorn. 




CHAPTER XC. 

A. DENIO. 

DEXIO is the proprietor of the Otsego 
PV Forks Mills, of Miles Grove. Erie County, 
• Pa., which is one of the prominent manufac- 
tnring industries of Erie County. For many years this 
estal)lishment has l)een in full o})eration, the Godsend as it 
were, and a great factor in the creation and building up of 
the pleasant village of Miles Grove. 

Messrs. North and Denio formerly run the business at 
Fly Creek, Otsego County, N. Y., with the wooden de- 
l)artment at Albion. Pa., in 1865. At Baldwins, in 1872, 
to which place the fork mills had been removed. Mr. E. 
Denio died, leaving the l)usiness to which he had devoted 
the best years of a well-spent life, in the hands of his only 
son, Mr. A. Denio, the present proprietor. The son re- 
moved the wooden or handle department from Albion to 
Miles Grove, and later, in 1876, the Otsego Fork Mills, at 
Baldwinsville were removed and consolidated thereto, where 
new brick buildings Avere erected, with special reference to 
the wants of the business. The buildings are su])stantial 
brick structures, and present a tine outward appearance, in 
which are employed on tlie average seventy-tive men, who 
are engaged in the manufacture and handling of various 
agricultural im})lements, forks, rakes, hoes, shovels, etc., 
which for quality and beauty are unsurpassed. 

The Otsego Fork Mills are not run on the thunder 
shoAver principle, but constantly, except when necessary to 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 337 

shut down for repairs. The popular demand for the A. 
Denio implements has oj^ened a market, not only through- 
out America, but in the old world, England, France and 
Germany. 

Mr. Denio possesses the happy faculty of retaining 
veteran skilled workmen and assistants in his business. 
Messrs. Casper Matteson, Mathias Hess, William Murray 
and Charles N. Bro^vnell are among the veterans in the dif- 
ferent branches in his employ. R. D. Cheeseman has been 
a foreman in Mr. Denio's employ 24 years of the 28 years 
of consecutive service, and many other expert workmen 
have been in employ for many years, which largely aids in 
the manufacture of the excellent implements for which the 
Otsego mills are famous. Luckily, too, for Mr. Denio, he 
is located contiguously to the best quality of white ash 
timber in the world, for handles. The apparent easy man- 
ner in which this timber is now obtained augurs well that 
he can obtain a supply for years to come. 

To A. Denio the people of Miles Grove owe much 
gratitude for his great enterprise located in their midst. 
He has been the one man power for years in this great con- 
cern until recently, when he wisely associated with him 
Messrs. Andrews, Hall and Sullivan, to prepare for the in- 
evitable, a natural emergency, to come on a time when no 
man can tell — the closing drama of a busy life. 



23 



CHAPTER XCI. 

AMERICA. 

iLTy^L^HAT OTHER NATION of so recent birth 

"ix^yv/ That can compare, upon this earth, 
/^ S%1 With America, the bounteous hind, 
From the St. Lawrence to the Rio Grande. 

From the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean 
Her commerce under perpetual motion. 
That she may never retrogade 
In this or any coming decade . 

America has the resources, and were invincible, 
Who carved her out upon first principles; 
Who came here a determined baud; 
Americans, forever united stand! 

Columbus snuffed in the western breezes land to the 
westward. His superstitious people sought to strangle his 
ideas, but to no avail. San Salvador, Cuba, and other 
islands were discovered, and finally the American Conti- 
nent. But not much headway was made in the way of 
settling antl populating the country until the beginning of 
the sixteenth century, when in Virginia and Massachusetts 
a band of determined men set to work. The mettle of 
those Puritans has been tested, and is well known to have 
been made to count from the time of their landing on the 
American shores and along down the ages. 

Lo Avas there, however, in all th(; glory nature had 
provided him — 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 339 

With all sorts of wild game that he could wish, 
Also with the otter, the muskrat and the iish; 
Sometimes without any other means of help 
With bow and arrow he'd take a white man's scalp. 

But the Indian race is becoming quite extinct; and of 
that other family of which there has been so much specula- 
tion, the lost tribes of Israel, we have but a meager tradi- 
tion, but we have evidence that some nation more powerful 
than the Indian preoccupied this country, but their record 
seems to have been too precious to preserve. However, 
with or without that record, we have in America nationali- 
ties to-day, quite enough for the propagation of a first-class 
hybrid at least. 

America has room and material to grow, and already 
she has assumed such gigantic proportions that she may 
noAv rest easy. The four great nations of Europe, Russia, 
England, Germany and France: 

The Russian Bear and her sporting whale, 
Old England and her British Lion's tail; 
Germany, her lager beer and her iron rule 
France with money and her Fashion School. 
Four great nations, singly or altogether. 
Must not pull the American Eagle's feather. 

The greatness of a country is measured by its intelligent 
rule and code of laws, its S3'stem of free schools, its resources 
and industry of its people Avhich, when united, pull strongly 
together. Its political and religious policy must work in 
harmony. Riots and wars are exhaustive to a nation, 
blightening, poisonous and destructive. Desolation, crime 
antl pauperism follo^v in its wake. 

Union in sentiment, union in action, brings peace, 
plenty, happiness and pr()sperity to the individual and to 



340 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

the nation, which is characteristic of America — to be free 
from entangling alliances, and at peace in her commercial 
intercourse with all nations. No distant islands of the sea 
to protect, nor large standing or regular army, menacing 
or sapping the revenues of our government. This conspires 
to make America what she is — the sweet land of liberty — 
full of new blood, vigor and genius. Her generals, or her 
jobbers, would have gone out onto Solomon'sjiills of valuable 
w^oods with a few men and a yoke of cattle and moved oif 
more timber than did his 2,000 Jews, but it seems that Jew 
lumbermen were plenty and cheap in his day around about 
Jerusalem, and they had their way of doing things, too. 

With the past and present influx of immigration to 
America one would think that our continent would soon be 
overstocked. It is true we have had quite enough, especially 
of a certain class of emigrants — the pauper element, the 
tramp, the rioter and the dynamiter. For such we have no 
demand. But the honest toiler, the man of industrious, 
frugal and temperate habits, a law-abiding citizen, can still 
find room in America, and a remunerative price for his 
labor. There is something for every man to do in America 
if he is not too shiftless and lazy to go to work at some- 
thing. There is no need of this tramp nuisance in America. 

Yet a sad picture occasionally presents itself. The 
skilled artisan strikes a town and looks about for a job, but 
there is no opening just then for a machinist or for his par- 
ticular line of trade. He says, "My trade is machinist, 
and I can't do anything else." Days and Aveeks roll by, 
his money is getting low and his spirits, too ; he gets the 
bliu^s, and fin;dly throws his last dollar for drink and smoke 
and becomes a reckless tramp and bummer. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 341 

Suppose that Grant and Sherman had chmg to and 
resorted to the same tactics on the batrletield that they had 
been accustomed to on other tields. When surve}'ing the 
tield they used the line best adapted for the emergency and 
pitched into the enemy and finally ousted them from their 
strongholds. 

Young man, when upon life's battleground you become 
shipwrecked, if you can't get into a good-fashioned boat to 
sail in, take a raft or a float and live it out for the time of 
emergency. And when on board your crude ship, if 3'ou 
can't make but a dollar ]:>er day, it is better to be sure of 
that than to wait for three dollars per day and be lost in 
the whirlpool of idleness and destruction. 

Employment in any Ijranch of industry (respectable) 
is honorable. I have known men to get rich on a small 
capital, raising turnips and potatoes. I have known men, 
without capital, to get rich hulling and popping corn and 
selling it. Others who have made a good living selling 
paper and matches. Others, in selling saurkraut and 
buttermilk. 

A man once got into a good job by simply being 
willing to do what he was told to do. On applying for 
work he was asked if he could make a pin; he said he 
could try; he was told to take a double bitted axe and 
make a wooden pin on a rock; he made the pin — then he 
said he always stuck the axe in the block — 

Then he raised the axe above the rock, 

And let 'er drive into the block; 

Said the man: "You've done a good job at that, 

Willing to work at what I set you at ; 

You have knocked off my axe both edges. 

But I'll hire you and give you good wages. 



342 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Opportunities there are for all whom we have, 

From the hair pin to the grindstone; 

The lawyer and the prophetic seer, 

The school hoy to the statesman without a peer. 

Therefore young man, there is no need for you to go 
hungry nor idle. If you can't get just what you desire at 
the onset, start in at the best thing you Ccan get and watch 
your opportunity and you will certainly win something 
that will suit you in the race for life. Resolutely take hold 
and turn up something and not wait for the opportunity 
golden to turn up to you. 

Look out upon the grandeur, the vastness of Young 
America, with her teeming millions keeping pace in the 
busy hum of agricultural, mechanical and commercial life. 
Look out upon her beautiful Garden City, Chicago, wath 
her million souls, and only a half century old. Young 
man, the same sun rises and sets in your horizon; the same 
refreshing w^aters roll to quench your thirst and bathe your 
weary feet — 

Golden avenues stretch out before you on every hand, 
Throughout America's broad and beneficeDt land. 

Then Ije loyal to your country, loyal and true to yourself; 
then it may be said your country is none the worse. l)ut 
the better for your existence therein. 



CHAPTER XCII. 



THE FATHER OF WATEKS. 




EOIMAXCE AXD TRAGEDY OF THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI— ITS WATERS 
COVER THE REMAINS OF THE FIRST EUROPEAN WHO TRAVERSED 
THEM — FERDINAND DE SOTO, LASALLE AND OTHERS. 

^ ^^^^W///2/^ HE HISTORY of the Mississippi River 
for the past 350 years is a story of ro- 
mance and tragedy. Far back in the early 
days of the sixteenth century the adven- 
turous Spaniard, spurred on by a thirst for 
gold, began the exploration of the river 
and survey of the surrounding, country. 

But the bold European who first ventured upon the 
waters of the mighty stream found not in them the gold he 
sought, but a rgave. 

In 1539 Ferdinand De Soto left the Island of Cuba, 
over which for some years he had been Governor, in his 
wife's charge, and set sail for Florida, lured on by the 
reports of the boundless wealth in the sunny peninsula's 
soil. He arrived safely and disembarked his men, and in 
order that none should 1)e tem})ted to return or abandon the 
enterprise they had entered upon, he sent the ships l)ack to 
Cuba. 

De Soto pushed through the strange lanfl with his fol- 
lowers, and after a roundaljout journey reached the Miss- 
issippi at the blutis now known as the Lower Chickasaw, 
where the city of Memphis stands. The party crossed the 



344 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

river at tliis point and explored the country beyond until 
they came upon the White River, some 200 miles from its 
junction Avith the great stream. De Soto then dispatched a 
portion of his men to explore the region of the Missouri, 
but they encoimtered such difficulties that they were forced 
to return. At the end of two years the expedition win- 
tered near the hot springs and salt streams of the Washita, 
but the canoes of the party got entangled in the bayous and 
marshes of the Red River and were lost. 

At length the Spaniards succeeded in striking the great 
river lower down, and the country was carefully surveyed, 
without, however, showing any signs of the gold for which 
they were seeking. All this time the Spaniards had to con- 
tend with the hostility of the Indians, who were ever on the 
alert to attack them. At length, dispirited by the dangers 
and disappointments he had endured, the leader succumbed 
to a malignant fever which attacked him, and on the 21st 
of May, 1542, after three years of exploration, De Soto 
died. 

The story of his burial has been graphically told by 
the historian. "Amid the sorrows of the moment and fears 
of the future, his l)ody was wrapi)e(l in a mantle and sunk 
in the middle of the river. A re(]uiem broke the midnight 
gloom and the morning rose upon the consternation of the 
survivors. De Soto sought for gold, l)ut found nothing so 
great as his I)urial place." 

Such was the end of the first attempt to explore 
the Mississippi and the adjacent country. Thousands 
journey on the mighty river yearly now, but few of those 
who pass and repass on its waters have any idea that in the 
bed of the stream rest tiie remains of the gallant Spaniard 
who was the first European to traverse the ^Mississippi. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 345 

After the death of De Soto, the expedition was under 
the command of Louis De Moscoso, and, after enduring 
every calamity that could befall man, the party set to work 
and l)uilt sevent(»en brigantines. Having accomplished this 
they passed out of one of the mouths of the ri^er, and fol- 
lowing the coast eastward, reached Cuba in the autumn of 
1543. The men lost half of their number in the four years 
they had been away — only 300 out of 600 who started, re- 
turning to the Island. 

MARQUETTE AND JOLIET. 

For more than a century after De Soto's expedition 
the talk of further exploring the Mississippi remained in 
abeyance. But in 1673 a Catholic priest named Marquette 
and a French trader named Joliet made an attempt to sur- 
vey some parts of the river, and there is no doul)t but that 
the example set by these two resolute men moved the Chev- 
alier De Lasalle to the important work of discovery he took 
in hand shortly afterwards, the most im})ortant in the his- 
tory of Mississippi exi)loration. 

lasalle's work. 

In the first place Lasalle dispatched Father Louis 
Henepin to survey the upper waters as far as the Falls of 
St. Anthony, which were discovered by the priest and 
named after his patron saint. 

In 16S2 Lasalle started with 23 Frenchmen and 18 
Indians to explore the lower reaches of the river. He 
entered the Mississippi from Illinois and journeyed down 
the stream until he reached the ''Passes," as they are 
called, by which the waters make their way to the sea. 
He sent parties to survey each of the three channels of the 
Mississippi Delta and sailed into the open Gulf of Mexico. 



346 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

The party then retraced their steps to Quebec, and Lasalle 
returned" to France. 

In 16S4, aided by the French Government, the Cheva- 
Her sailed witli four vessels for the Gulf of Mexico in order 
to enter the Mississippi from the sea, but he failed to 
accomplish this task. Lasalle lost his ships; and after 
making a vain attempt to reach the river overland he was 
assassinated l)y one of his followers in March, 1687, the 
second and greater explorer of the stream meeting a fate 
even more tragic than that which overtook his predecessor, 
Ferdinand De Soto. 

Twelve years later the mouths of the Mississippi were 
discovered by Iberville. The source of the river has been 
sought for, at different times, by travelers of nearly every 
nationality. 

1805 the United States Government sent Lieutenant 
Pike to survey the region in which the Mississippi was sup- 
posed to have its origin; and in 1820 Governor Cass, of 
Michigan, undertook a similar task, but they were unsuc- 
cessful in their attempts to trace it, and the source of the 
river remained still unknown. 

In 1832 Henry Howe Schoolcraft explored Lake Itasca, 
which he reg-arded as the source of the stream. It had 
long l)ecn suspected, however, that the Mississippi had its 
fountain-head higher up than Lake Itasca; and in July, 1881, 
an expedition, led by Captain Willard Glazier, discovered 
a lake south of Itasca a mile and a-half in diameter, and 
falling into Itasca by a permanent stream. B(\yond this 
there is no water connected with the river, and hence Lake 
Glazier is now jjenerallv rccoiiiiizcd as its source. 




CHx\PTER XCIII. 

COOPED BY A LIOX. 

N MY second trip to Africa as agent of 
the Hamberg Animal House, one night 
encamped on a stream in the Transvaal 
there arose a storm of such severity that 
most of our live stock broke away and 
ran off in teri'or. As soon as daylight 
came we started out to recover the ani- 
mals. Two horses which I was after led 
me a long chase, and as I passed over some broken ground 
close to a great mass of rock, my horse stumbled and threw 
me over his head. I wasn't hurt much by the fall, but the 
horse acted in a manner unaccountable to mc. He ran off 
at the top of his speed, never heeding my calls, and my rifle 
was strapped to the saddle and my revolvers in the holsters. 
For a minute I was lost in astonishment at his conduct, but 
soon the mystery was explained in a way to startle me. 
About five rods off, standing by a bush, was one of the 
largest lions I ever saw. He stood facing me, and was 
switching his tail right and left. 

In the mass of rock ten feet to my right was an open- 
ing and I jumped for it and s(pieezed in just as the lion came 
up. Luckily for me, at least on this occasion, I was thin 
in flesh, Aveighing less than 120 pounds. The hole was 
very irregular and ran back about eight feet, and was high 
enough for me to stand up in. It was also lucky that the 
lion was a big fellow, for he worked his hardest to get at 
me, and gave up only after 1.5 minutes"' trial. His head was 



348 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

too big for the opening, and when he reached for nie with 
his paws he fell short by three or four feet. When I first 
reahzed that I was safe, I regarded the situation as a good 
joke on the Hon, l)ut hxter on I had reason to change my 
views. 

The Hon had been asleep under the bush when I came 
galloping up. His near presence was what scared my horse 
into running off as he did, and the beast had been somewhat 
confused over the row and had delayed rushing upon me 
until I had s'ained shelter. When he found me l)e>'ond his 
reach he got verv mad and orowled and rt)ared and l)it at 
the rocks, and I shouted and kicked at him to keep the fun 
ffoing:. After ten or fifteen minutes' useless work the lion 
backed away and laid down in front of my prison, and then 
I beojan to realize the situation. 

It was a hot morning and I was alread}^ thirsty, while 
I had been in such a hurry to leave camp that I had eaten 
nothing. The rocks were still dripi)ing with the rain of the 
previous night, and I could thus take the edge off my thirst. 
I also had matches and cigars, and was not so badly oft' for 
a brief siege. 

1 fully expected his majesty to retire within an hour or 
two, as he lay full in the sun, and it is the custom of all 
the feline tribe to sleep by day and to retire to a shady and 
secluded spot. I judged my distance from camii to be 
al)out six miles, and if au}^ of our l)oys should come that 
Avay, the lion Avould l)e pretty sure to make a sneak. Up 
to noon I was momentaril}' expecting their ap])roacli. It 
then occurred to me that no one would know exactly which 
way I went or how far I had galloped, and they might 
search for a whole day and not come within miles of me. 



PIONEER SKETCHES 349 

By high noon the lion was panting with the heat, but would 
not move, although there was shade only 20 feet away. 

I could not stretch out at full length, but I got a com- 
fortable position and fell asleep soon after noon, and did 
not open my eyes again until just at sundown. I could not 
see that the lion had moved an inch, but he lay with his 
head on his paws as if he had also taken a long nap. My 
people had no doubt searched for me, but they had not 
come in the right direction, and I might as well prepare 
to spend the night in the cave. I was very hungr}^ and 
thirsty by this time. I licked the damp rocks all around me 
to cool my tongue, but had not a morsel to stay my 
stomach. With a loose stone I broke oflf pieces from the 
rocks and flung them out at the lion, but he only growled 
and showed his teeth in reply. I then made as if I would 
crawl out but he had his head at the opening in an 
instant, and his eyes were so full of lire, they were 
almost like lanterns. While the situation was unpleasant 
it might be worse, and as my sleep had been broken for 
several nights I turned in as soon as darkness came down, 
and was soon oblivious of all things earthly. Some time 
in the night I was aroused by the lion roaring and making 
a great fuss, and I made out that another male was in the 
neighborhood and challenging him to fight. It was none 
of my affair, however, and after listening awhile I dr()])ped 
asleep, and did not awaken again until daylight. The first 
thing I saw, as I looked out, was my lion. He had not 
moved a rod and had lost none of his determination to 
make a meal of my poor flesh. I was hopeful up to noon, 
but heard nothing. All the long afternoon I felt sure lielj) 
would come, but the sun went down and I was still a prisoner 
and the lion had not moved. He nuist be thirsty and hungry, 



350 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

and his remaining where he was showed that he possessed a 
dogged obstinacy unknown in many otliers of his kind. 
Tlie nearest water was about four miles away. As dark- 
ness came I determined to a(kl to the brute's suflerings, 
and I therefore worked my l)ody as near the opening as I 
dared to, and kicked at liim, until lie was worked into a 
state of fury. This added to his thirst, and when he tinally 
quieted down he walked about uneasily. Had he trotted 
off in the direction of the river I should not have dared 
leave my retreat (as the route to camp was a dangerous one 
by night) but he did not go. 

About 9 o'clock in the evening I heard another lion 
roar close by, and he was instantly answered by my jailer. 
I had made the old fellow mad all the way through, and he 
was now anxious to fight. The other must have been in 
the same frame of mind, for it was not ten minutes before 
he advanced to the attack, and although 1 could see 
nothing, I could catch the sound of a most tremendous 
struggle. I believe the fight lasted a full half hour, and 
two or three times the combatants rolled against the mass 
of rock. They finally drew away, the sounds becnne 
fainter, and I went to sleep hoping for release in the morn- 
ing. When morning came my jailer was not ^'isible. After 
taking due precautions against surprise I crept out, to find 
the coast actually clear, and I made a bee lino for camp, 
and reached it without adventure. 

The men had just got news that a lion had ])een cap- 
tured in a pit about two miles away. I went with them 
after breakfast to get him out, and from certain marks on 
the body I recognized the animal as the one who had 
besieged me. We had no more trouble in getting him out 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 351 

than as if he had been a dog, but the mysteiy was 
explained as we hfted him out. He was half dead with 
the injuries received in the light with the other lion. His 
right eye was destroyed, his jaw fractured, the end of his 
tongue bitten off, his left hind leg broken and he had been 
bitten and clawed in fifty different places. We did not 
believe he would ever get well and therefore killed him for 
the value of his hide. — Sun. 




CHAPTER XCIV. 

LOVING WORDS. 

OVING words will cost but little 
Joiirneyiug up the hill of life, 
^^But they make the weak and weary 
Stronger, braver, for the strife. 
Do you count them only trifles ? 

What to earth ai'e sun and rain ? 
Never was a kind word wasted, 
Never one was said in vain. 

When the cares of life are many, 

And its burdens heavy grow 
For the ones who walk beside you — 

If you love them, tell them so. 
What you count of little value 

Has an almost magic power. 
And beneath their cheering sunshine 

Hearts will blossom like a flower. 

So as up life's hill we journey 

Let us scatter all the way 
Kindly words, to serve as sunshine 

In the dark and cloudy day. 
Grudge no loving Avord, my brother. 

As along througli life you go; 
To the ones who journey with you — 

If vou love them, tell them so. 



CHAPTER XCV. 

PITTSBURG. 




and the Yoiigliiogheny, announcing from the start, to 
the reader, that its site l^ears no lack of rivers bearing 
Indian names, fraught with historic and picturesque scenes. 

Lo, the poor Indian, well knew by this great conflux 
of streams, its lofty hills, its forests and beautiful valleys, 
that it would afford a paradise. for him. Up the Allegheny 
he found his Indian God, his Patterson and Montgomery 
Falls and Pegg's Chute, his Clarion, wonderful Bear Creek, 
Red Bank and the Ox Bow. 

It is along these mountains that we can behold 
grandeur not to be seen elsewhere. Its overhanging 
trees and rocks, its rich minerals, its outcropping veins 
of bituminous coal and limestone. But what has all this to 
do with Pittsburg ? Much. Its sagacious founder no 
doul^t knew this: that the iron manufacturer had all the 
material at hand with which to operate, and so did Pitts- 
burg become, and was for years, the greatest ordnance 
and heavy goods manufacturing city in America. And we 
have noticed that as a large city she has, through past de- 
cades, apparently suffered less from })anics than many 
other cities. 

Pittsburg is one of the oldest aud wealthiest cities in 
our country. Its inhabitants savor somewhat of the 
Quaker and German elements, and the majority have 
come to stay. Its present population is about 315,000, 
having made great i)rogress during the last decade. 

23 



CHAPTER XCVI. 

BUTI.ER. 

BUTLER is the county scat of Butler County, 
Pa. Like Franklin and other inland towns, 
it has enjoyed a slow but steady growth. 
Its people are of a staunch order, generally 
mean what they say, and pay for what they 
o-ct. It contains several churches, schools, hotels, stores 
and manufactories. Its people can congratulate themselves 
that they have at hand a plenty of the black diamond va- 
riety of fuel for domestic, mechanical and commercial pur- 
poses for generations to come. 

Butler County has, perhaps, more bituminous coal than 
any other county in Western Pennsylvania. The Shenango 
Railroad, recently constructed, which taps Butler's vast coal 
fields, will prove a valuable factor to its wealth and re- 
sources by opening a much more extensive market for her 
hidden treasures. A good portion of the count}' abounds 
with food farmin"' lands; its farmers are well-to-do and 
generally out of debt. Her oil production has been, and is 
still, of considerable value altogether. I predict a prosper- 
ous future for Butler, and that it will become one of the 
wealthiest counties of Western Pennsylvania. 



CHAPTEK XCVII. 




COLONEL DRAKE, 

THE DISCOVERER OF PETROLEUM OIL. 

OLONEL DRAKE drilled the first oil well 
in Oildom, on Watson's Flats, on Oil 
Creek, just below Titusville, by hand 
power, using a spring pole as the motive 
power. He came from York State, and 
went to work drilling for Seneca oil in 
1858 under adverse circumstances — poor 
in i)ocket, but with the firm conviction 
he would discover petroleum oil in the 
rock below. 



#.=^' 



He was called by some wiseacres a crazy fanatic, but 
undaunted, he kept on drilling. Without money or credit 
he persevered, and at the depth of 09 feet he struck the 
pent-u}) treasnre. Then it was, as in all other cases, '"How 
do you do, Colonel Drake. Allow me to congratulate you, 
Mr. Drake, on your good fortune," etc. 

This man, for the discovery of one of the most useful 
commodities in our land, should long be remembered as a 
benefactor to the people, at least of this generation. 

Mr. Drake died comparatively a poor man, and dui- 
ing his later years some noble-hearted oil men raised for 
him a purse to smooth his pathway down the close of his 
life's journey. 



356 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Colonel Drake's great discovery bestired the people. 
Leasing and purchasing land set in briskly. Analytical 
tests by experts were made, and this petroleum oil was 
found to contain component ingredients susceptible of great 
value, hence Oil Creek, from Titusville to Oil City," was 
soon alive, and many a rabbit and rattlesnake were driven 
from their secluse by the constant tramp of the oil seekers. 
Millions of dollars were soon expended in the erection of 
oil rigs, buildings and refineries, and drilling. Millions of 
dollars' worth of oil have been produced, and millions have 
been made in refining and shipment, and $100,000,000 is 
said to have been made by one man — Rockafeller, of the 
Standard Oil Company — in the business. 

Well, this latter deal seems to cap the climax. How- 
ever, " truth is sometimes stranger than fiction." 

Let us not forget to honor Colonel Drake, the pioneer 
driller and the discoverer of petroleum oil , 

TO OILDRILLEKS: 

To drill an oil well should you undertake, 

Breathe a kiud thought to the memory of Col. Drake. 




CHAPTER XCVIII. 

FRANIvLIN. 

KAXKLIN is situated ut the junction 
of French Creek and on the north side 
of the Allegheny River, and is the county 
seat of Venango County, Pa. R is one 
of the oldest cities in Western Pennsyl- 
A'ania, and there are no fears of the town 
getting away. From every point of 
the compass the mountainous hills look 
frowningly down upon the place. The 
valley at this point is about one mile 
wide and about three miles long. The 
scenery is picturesque and beautiful. Much might be writ- 
ten al)Out this town, which was first settled by the French. 
A fort was erected and called Fort Macault. The road that 
General Washington traveled over in revolutionary days 
from Philadelphia, Pittsburg and northward, ran through 
this place, as did many an Indian trail. 

Franklin contains about 1,300 inhabitants, and is noted 
for its fine wide streets, its durable stone sidewalks and its 
staid people, its mammoth hills, its beautiful Venango and 
Allegheny Rivers, abounding in fish, its long-winded oil 
wells of twenty years' production, and finally its situation 
l)ctween the loftv hills, that a cyclone would have to swoop 
down like a hen hawk to reach its inhabitants. 

Two great oil refineries are located here, one of which, 
the Eclipse, is rightly named. As far as the writer has 
ever seen, this mammoth refinery eclipses everything of the 



358 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

kind on earth. Barnum oup^ht to buy it. But the Stand- 
ard Oil Company, the owner, is not in the market, hut ])ro- 
poses to eclipse it. 

The Evans well, on the Hats of French Creek, was the 
second oil well drilled in oildom, that of Colonel Drake's, at 
Titusville, being the first, in 1858, and from that date on- 
ward for fifteen years, through the palmy days of oildom, 
never was there before,' and perhaps there never will be 
again such a vast operation and such a speculation through 
all hands, in oil lands, as there was in Venango County 
from 1858 to 1870. The coimtryman and the expert, the 
oil smeller and the speculator, the gaml)ler and the capital- 
ist, the la])orer and the dude, all met in one common plane, 
besm altered in mud, grease, rain, snow or simshine, to bu}^, 
sell or lease, to put up a derrick or to pump, or swindle 
you out of an oil well. 

More fortunes were made and lost in Venango County 
Pa., between 1860 and 1870, than in any other spot of the 
same area on the American Continent. 

Losses by fire were immense, oil tanks being struck by 
lightning and set on fire by other causes, exploding the 
large tanks. The oil running along the ground and into 
tho river followed by the lapping fiame, and on its course 
down the river would burn everything it touched — 

Then onward down the stream — 
The grandest blaze and uiglitly scene 
That I ever beheld. 

However, the trade became a legitimate business, and 
many good men were engaged in it. 

For some time oil sold at very lenumerative prices — 
one to five dollars per barnd, which paid the producer well. 
At onc! time it reached a fabulous price. In August, 18(i3, 
Jacob Shirk, dealer and shipper at Oil City, paid $1-1.00 
per 1)ar]'cl to Hnish loading my boat for Kittanning — the 
Valley Kailroad then terminating at that })lace. 



CHAPTER XCIX. 




OIL CITY. 

IL CITY is situated seven miles above 
Franklin, in Venango County, Pa., on 
the Allegheny River and at the mouth of 
Oil Creek. It is noted as the hub of the 
oil region and for its rapid growth from a 
wild country vacuum to a city of 10,000 
inhabitants. Cottage Hill and South Oil 
City, with many fine residences, are pleas- 
ant portions of the city. 

The mountains on the north side of the town, tunneled 
by the Lake Shore Railroad, with a race course on its top, 
overlooking the city from its dizzy height, affords a grand 
and picturesque view. 

Immense transactions were carried on in all things per- 
taining to the oil business from 1860 to IS TO, and gave to 
the huckster and the farmer the best market in the country 
for his products. 

The writer has measured up coal aboard of his boat at 
fifty cents per bushel to the Oil Creek scalper, put from 200 
to 500 bushels aboard of his giper, and with his horses 
hitched to the bow he would drive u}) Oil Creek four miles 
to Cherry Run, and there sell his cargo of coal at from $1 
to $1.25 ])er bushel at the oil wells. 



360 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Theu, you see, the oil business was at fever height, 
The oil producer would hustle with all his might, 
To pump from the ground the oil, if it didu't How 
From a God-forsaken spot where nothing would grow. 

Away back to the time of the earliest settler of Oil 
Oreek, or of Venango and Crawford Counties, 1795 up to 
1810, the Seneca Indians were accustomed to gather oil 
from different springs and places in Oil Creek, which was 
then and subsequently sold as Seneca Oil in one-ounce 
phials at 25 cents, as a great medicine and liniment for the 
cure of frost bites,. burns, scalds, rheumatism, etc. Quite a 
difference then, was it not, in the price (jf 25 cents per 
ounce and 25 cents per barrel in 18r)2 for the same Seneca? 

This is only one of the many wonderful things devel- 
oped on Oil Creek, its tributaries and in other fields in the 
vicinity, for the pioneer land owner, who originally bought 
at from 25 cents to one, two and three dollars per acre, 
some of whom, for years, lived })rincipally l)y hunting, fish- 
ing, log cutting, lumbering in a small way, and running 
out of Oil Creek down the Allegheny, as it were, to eke out 
a subsistence. 

Many of these heroic, hardy pioneers struggled hard 
for a life's subsistence on the same lands which in after 
years yielded them a princely fortune in the space of one 
week, one month, or one year's time. The developments 
were from a 50 to a 3,()00-barrel oil well, wdiich made these 
fellows so rich and greasy that they slid right out of that 
country and bought lands and plac(?s to suit their mind's eye. 

The oil business had assumed great proportions, thous- 
ands of oil derricks and buildings already dotting the val- 
leys, the hillsides and the hilltoi)s throughout the Oil Creek 
region. A vast amount of oil w'as stored in wooden and 



P/ON'E ER SKE TCHES. 3 {\ \ 

iron tanks. Relineries were built, and also niaehine shops 
for the manufacture of drilling tools, boilers, engines, etc. 
The hillsides and the valleys were lit at night Ijy the gas 
from the oil wells. The gas was also utilized for fuel in 
drilling and pumping oil wells. 

Many boats were used on Oil Creek, and in times of 
a sudden rise of water in this mountainous stream, boats 
would break away from their moorings and l)e hurled down 
the stream. Soon great numbers would become gorged, 
and the fire that followed and the great destruction of pro- 
perty was a terrible sight to behold, and will be long re- 
meml)ered by the old timers on Oil Creek. 

Scenes and incidents might be written of this oleagi- 
nous region to fill a volume. Rouseville four miles up the 
creek had become a [)romincnt place; also Petroleum Centre 
eight miles above Oil City. At these points a large amount 
of oil was produced. 

Oil operations had now extended down the Allegheny 
River to Scrubb Grass, Parker's Landing, Bear Creek and 
other places contiguous thereto, also up the Allegheny, 
Tidioute and other places and on to Bradford. A good 
proportion of that land acreage, in this great oil field, was 
rough and untillable and apparently was of little value. 
But it has been demonstrated time and again, thtit the oil 
produced from one acre and less, of this rough, unearthly 
land would buy 10,000 acres of good, arable farming 
lands. In taking a retrospective view of this wonderful 
oil region, its rugged, rocky, mountainous hills, its native 
drawbacks, its original, secluded locality, we cannot gain- 
say that were we its masterpiece, that we would have 
bettered it. 



362 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Oil City is still the centre of the oil business, op- 
erations at its oil exchange, daily quotations go out to 
New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Cleveland, and to all 
the principal cities, and become one of the great factors in 
commerce. And during all its ups and downs, through 
panic times, Oil City continued to become more solid and 
city like, and to-day she can boast of many fine residences 
and business blocks and good hotels, churches, and a very 
fine oil exchange. 



CHAPTER C. 




THE STEELE FARM. 

j;BOUT THREE MILES above Oil City, 
on Oil Creek, is situated the Steele 
Farm, which became famous as an oil 
producing farm. Upwards of two mill- 
ions of dollars were realized as royalty 
of the oil production of this farm. 

John Steele (or "Coal Oil Johnny, 
as he was called) came in possession of 
this vast sum of money, and he proceeded at once to show 
the people — 

That he could light his cigar with a ten-dollar bill, 

This he often would do to gratify his will; 

In cities with fine rigs he'd drive out on a bum, 

Sometimes he would buy out the whole rig before he got home 

Thus this fast young man recklessly slung out his 
greenbacks, and in so doing he soon brought around him a 
horde of suckers and leeches who spurred him onward, 
down, down, in his wild and lavish career, and he soon suc- 
cumbed, like a field of grain l)cfore the reaper's sickle. 

Of this oil prince other things we might tell, 
How he bought out a Philadelphia hotel, 
As he went in to have a rousing time. 
To brush off the dust and take a shine. 

He called u\) freely the wine and refreshments, and 
when the landlord was loth to furnish more until the bill 
was settled the young greaser inquired, ''What will you 



364 PIOXEER SKETCHES. 

take for your hotel and get right out? " "Fifty thousand 
dolhirs," the landlord replied. 

A l)argain was struck and this young blood run hotel 
that day. In the course of a few months he became an 
oil teamster and continued in this occupation for some years. 
One day he received a letter from a banker stating that 
there was in the l)ank the sum of 5t>20.000 to the credit of 
the account of John Steele, (having })rcviou-ly l)een dei)os- 
ited I)}- him.) This money was used more economically 
than his former twenty thousands. I understand that he is 
now living in Minnesota engaged as a telegraph lineman 
and his son as an operator. 




CHAPTER CI. 

THE BENNEIIOFF FARM. 

BRIEF mention of John Bennehoff may 
be of interest to some. The famous 
Bennehoff Farm was situated about 
one mile from Petroleum Centre. This 
farm was prineii)ally located on the 
highlands, nnich aljove the level of Oil 
Creek and Bennehoff Run. His dwell- 
>pot, a consideral)le 



ing was located in quite a secluded 
distance from any other habitation. 

As the oil-smeller and the oil-driller moved back from 
the valleys this farm was leased, and operations commenced 
in earnest. The whale's back was struck, and the derricks 
and the flowing oil wells soon dotted the Bennehoff Farm, 
and he became the millionaire instead of the staid old Ger- 
man farmer. 

Mr. Bennehoff conceived the idea of being his own 
banker, and from time to time he placed his greenbacks in 
a simply-constructed iron safe in his dwelling house. Jim 
Saeger, of Saegertown, Pa., being aware of this private 
banking house, took it into his head to call at Mr. Benne- 
hoff's some fine evening and carry off those greenbacks. 
He stood six feet two, straight as arrow, with raven hair 
and eyes like a hawk, and he proceeded to prepare for the 
business. A German neighbor of Saeger, by the name of 
Loui Weldy, Avas sent to interview the German hired man 
of Bennehoff, who gave the information that Mr. Bennehoff, 



366 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

wif (> and two daughters, Joseph Beniiehotf and the hired man 
comprised the family, and that Joseph attended church 
certain evenings, and would leave the house before 7 
o'clock. 

Saeger then secured the services of a couple of sharp 
desperadoes from Philadelphia, promising them, it was said, 
in case of a successful haul, $25,000 each; also Weldy and 
one Miller, of Saegertown, $8,000 and $5,000. 

The expedition being planned Saeger, with a span of 
horses and sleigh, one wintry evening started with his gang 
from Saegertown across the country fourteen miles for the 
Bennehoff Farm. 

On arriving within two miles of their destination he 
drove his team into a thicket, and the party proceeded on 
foot to the Bennehoff house. Knocking on the door, he 
and two of his dare-devils went in' Avhile the others kept 
watch outside. Their revolvers demanded silence, a'ld Mr. 
Bennehoff and wife were bound and gagged, as also was 
the hired man and the girls. 

The key to the safe being found in Mr. B.'s pocket, 
it was unlocked and a-half million dollars in greenbacks 
were taken and put into a flour sack — a much safer place, they 
thought, — and ready for transportation. 

They next proceeded to examine Joseph's safe, which 
contained $300,000, but they found no key to open it, as 
Joseph was at church and had the key in his pocket. 

However, they seemed pretty well satisfied ^s\\\\ their 
flour sack of greenbacks, and they cooly retired for a re- 
past to the pantry, where they tilled up with bread, milk, 
and cream, fried cakes, honey and saurkraut, which took 
a longer time than it did to rob the safe. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 367 

The hired intin was then untied and marched to the 
barn and ordered to hitch up a team to a sleigli, then 
retied, the robl)ers driving off the team to the phice where 
they had left theirs; they left this team tied to a tree and 
with their own drove into Meadville, which place they 
reached in good time the fore part of the same night — 

An while they went into the tavern to warm, without and 
within, 

The flour sack of greenbacks was left in the sleigh outside of 
the inn. 

The news of the robbery spread like wildtire the next 
morning, but Saeger and his pils had cooly departed, Miller 
and Weldy returning to their homes in Saegertovvn. 

The affair for a long time was a mystery. No clue; 
no suspicion rested on an}' one. It was noticed that Mr. 
Weldy exhibited more -money than usual, and tinally he 
purchased a valuable farm, which created a suspicion and 
he was arrested as being implicated in the Bennehoff rob- 
bery. He made a clean-breasted confession and he and 
Miller were sent to the state prison for a term of years. 

Nothing was heard of the two reputed Philadelphians. 
In the meantime Mr. Bennehoff had offered a reward of 
$lUO,000 for the capture and conviction of Saeger, and the 
recovery of the money. A few years later he was, by an 
acquaintance, identihed at Denver, Colorado, as ho called 
into a restaurant and ordered ''a dozen fried." 

The lady in attendance saluted him with a "How do 
you do, Jim Saeger ^" 

With piercing look and quick response he replied, 
"You are mistaken matlam. I am not Jim Saeofcr." 



368 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

To which his interlocutor rephed, "You can't fool me. 
I know you, Jim Saeger/' 

"But hush, hush; keep mum," he said. 

The landlord was informed, also the sheriff, and Saeger 
was arrested. 

But said he, "I have a drove of cattle just outside the 
limits, with a good herd of cow boys, and you'll have a 
nice time in taking me east." 

Saeger was held and the Bennehoffs notified, and Chief 
Rouse of Titusville was sent to bring on his man. But 
young Bennehoff found that the prospects of recovering any 
great portion of his money was then doubtful because Sae- 
ger's capital consisted principally in herds of cattle roaming 
over Texas and New Mexico. But at all events, the situa- 
tion, for some cause, did not suit him sufficiently to put up 
the $100,000 reward, and Mr. Rouse, it was said, became 
disffusted over the affair, came home and at last accounts 
Jim Saeger was still in the far southwest. 

The probabilities are that Saeger has given — 

John Bennehoff' s hoodie larger circulation 
Throughout the western nation, 
From Denver to the Rio Grande, 
Than would the miserh^ old German. 

But thii^ isn't a good example to follow, 
To first gag one so he can't ludloo; 
Then steal away his greenbacks. 
Doughnuts, cheese, honey and saurkraut. 

Saeger soon became a ranchnuin in the west, 
And scattered his half million right and left 
In herds of cattle o'er the t?outhwesteru plain; 
He claimed 'twas Bennehoff 's loss, but other's gain. 



FIONEER SKETCHES. 369 

Months later, at a Denver Inn, he called for oyster.s fried, 
When by a Pennsylvania wonnm he was^ espied; 
Then followed Jim Saeger's arrest, 
Released, to roam again in the wild west. 

Had he stolen Bennehoff's cow, mule or ass, 
When they got him, they'd held him fast; 
But as he simply stole half a million dollars, 
He was treated as a gentlemen and a scholar. 

One need not go to Wall Street, New York, to see how 
a lively exchange business is carried on, for you can see it 
at Oil City. 

BULL AND BEAK. 

A member springs to his feet in the Oil City Exchange, 
With blood in his eye and oil on his brain; 
He shouts and he bellows, the bull is there 
And 'mid the excitement up comes the bear. 

Then 'twas bull and bear 
In the arena, everywhere. 
Novice v\'ould do well to understand 
A single word from any man. 

And when the bulls and bears retire 
They'll figure you up if you desire; 
They'll do you up in long or short, 
Most generallv in the latter sort. 



24 



CHAPTER CII. 




TITUSA ILLE. 

ITUSVILLE is situated, on Oil 
Creek, seventeen miles above Oil 
City, and is the second city in size 
in Crawford County, Pa. Like 
Oil City, it is a young town, it 
having developed from a country 
hamlet to a city, soon after the 
outbreak of the oil excitement in 
1858. 

Titusville is noted for its pleas- 
ant site in a In'oad valley and a 
pleasant country aroimd. Its streets 
are well laid out and skirted with l)eautiful shade trees, and 
it is not lacking for good churches and schools, pu])lic build- 
ings and fine residences. Altogether, Titusville is one of 
the best and pleasantest towns in Western Pennsylvania. 

All through the palmy days of oildom, and at the ])res- 
ent time, it was and is the home of many of the oil men, 
many of whom and families possessed great wealth and re- 
finement. 

The evening scene at the Titusville jjostoffice at most 
times from \S(\5 to 1875 could not, 1 presume to say, l)e 
duplicated in any other city of the same size on the Ameri- 
can continent. As its inhabitants and many transients called 
for their evening mail, together with the hundreds of day 
laborers for their missives, thev would form in line outside 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 371 

the post office, each one to take his turn u}) to the captain's 
office to see what was in store for him, and as the office 
closed many a one had to go unserved to return on the fol- 
lowing day. 

Through a great portion of these days the oil ))ooni 
and the traffic were immense and red hot between Titusville, 
Pleasantville and Shaml)urg. 

A plank road, six miles to Pleasantville, was built, and 
the hum and rattle of the numerous lines of stages told 
the traveler that there was somethino- o-oing on about there. 
The everlasting, solicitous, chin music of the stage driver 
was sufficient for jow to get in and ride, whether you 
really wanted to or not, to get a rest. *, 

In and around the villages of Pleasantvilk^ and Sham- 
burg a city of oil <lerricks was erected — 

And the oil l)usiues.s was pushed with a will, 
Days, nights and Sundays you could hear the tap of the ta-ill 
Going on downward into the first, second and third sand. 
To probe and to extract the oil from the land. 

Oil wells, hundreds of them, in this Pleasantville and 
Shamburg field, were struck in so close that ere long they 
exhausted the field. 

Church Run, near Titusville, soon after l)ecame (iuite 
an oil-producing field. 




CHAPTER cm. 

CONNEATIT- JIAEBOE — EAELY SETTLEES. 

ONNEAUT, situated two miles from the shore 
of Lake Eric, about one mile from the Penn- 
^^^ sylvania State line, on the old North Ridge 
stage road, in Conneaut ToAvnship, Ashta- 
bula County, Ohio, was siettled in 1S02. 
Among the earl}' settlers of 1S02-6-7 were Aaron Wright. 
William Brooks, Zeyjhncr Lake, Lewis Thayic, John 
Brown, William Foster, David Ford, Isaac Ford. Johnson 
Gilbert, Greenleaf Fiticld, Charles Benton, Alexander Le- 
roux, Elisha Grant, Riley Kilborn, S. Beckwith, AVhitne}' 
Grant, George Tweedy, Nathan L. Carter. John Ellis and 
William Rich. 

Soon after the War of 1812-3, emigration from the 
New England States to the Western Reserve set in at a 
lively rate, also creating (juite a commerce at Lake Erie 
ports (1880-85-40.) 

At this time Conneaut Harljor presented a pretty livolx" 
appearance. Its fine harbor was then superior to any on 
Lake Erie, with perhaps the exception of Fairi)ort. and 
was considered by vessel men to have a much Ix^tter })ort 
of entry than Ashtabula. And if Conneaut gets that much 
talked of railroad to her harbor Uncle Sam will furnish the 
necessary lucre to scooj) out the sand from the gill of Con- 
neaut Creek, and then she will have her just deserts — an 
even show with Ashtabula and Fairport. 



PIOh'EER SKETCHES. ^J/o 

Ciiuueaut is located upoa good, dry land, 

Where its residents can stand 

With their feet upon the sand. 

And a plenty of gravel at their command, 

which suits the lady and gent pedestrian; also the spring 
ofanlencr to make an early start in planting — 

His lettuce, beets, string beans and potatoes; 
Also his onions, peas, corn and tomatoes: 
A valuable consideration in a home 
To have a plenty of garden sass of your own. 

Messrs. Cleveland & Lyon were among the first great 
traders in the village. Their trade was large, extending to 
different parts in Pennsylvania, as they kept a stock of 
general merchandise, and "Bob" Lyon would buy almost 
anything that you could name. People came from Spring, 
Pa., at dawn of day ; others passing in wagons from Con- 
neautville. and others from more distant points twenty to 
thirty -five miles to BoIj Lyon'S to trade.. This man Lyon 
was a live man from head to foot, with electric tongue, an 
active brain, a double-geared movement and active hands 
beliind his counter, aftording a rare treat to the countryman 
to behold his genial face. 

Messrs. Hyde & Sargent kept tavern at Conneaut. No 
hotels in those days, all taverns and inns, and many of 
them, too. Ijetween Conneaut and Cleveland, where tlu^ 
stage driver and his load could wet their whistles for three 
cents each or at 25 cents per gallon from the Simon pure, 
unadulterated stuff made f j'oni corn and rye. 

The traveler generally received hospitable entertain- 
ment at these taverns. A meal or a ni£:ht's lodo-ino- cost la 
cents, and one enterprising fellow said he was going to 
build a "condition" on his tavern so he could treat 
stranaers in a more "hostile" manner. 



374 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

From 1825 to 1850 Conneaot had her 8hari' of the 
marine l)usino8s of the lakes. Prior to the day of raih'oads 
its harbor was of considerable importance, not only to its 
inhabitants and others in that vicinity, but to inhabitants of 
Northwestern Pennsylvania, at All)ion, Spring, Conneaut- 
ville, Mosiertown, Saegertown and Meadville, Pa. 

As heretofore mentioned, the valuable timlier so merci- 
lessly cut down to l)e cleared out of the way, throughout 
this region by the pioneer, only found a market in the 
condensed form of black salts, Avhich, delivered at Conneaut 
Harbor, would fetch the money to pay the tAventy-five 
cents postage stamp on a letter and twenty-five cents per 
yard for cotton cloth to make a shirt. 

Conneaut, like most other lake ports, had a rather 
slow growth from this time on up to the day of railroads. 
The building of the Lake Shi)re Railroad gave it something 
of an impetus, but nothing com})ared Avith the one which 
came in 1883, when the Nickel Plate located at Conneaut 
its railroad shops. Then everything moved at a lively gait. 
A real estate and building boom was created, which has 
more than doubled its population in the past six years. It 
now has tine churches, school houses, hotels and residences, 
business blocks and elegant stores, a good town hall and a 
lively trade. Its people are alive to the interests and well- 
fare of their town, and full of pluck, pride and enterprise, 
and I predict that they will not rest satisfied until they 
boom her onward to a city of no small dimensions. 




CHAPTER CIV. 

PITHOLE CITY. 

ITHOLE was the miishroom citv of oil- 
(lom, becoming a grown up city in one 
(lay and collapsing in {uiother. 

Several flowing oil wells were struck at 
this place, and the most wonderful ex- 
citement followed that was ever known in this eonntiy. 

How such a movement was kicked u}) is hard to ex- 
plain, but everything and the people seemed to l)e in trim 
for such a demonstration. 

The great oil wells of former days had considerably 
run down and the boomers were lookino- for a new held of 
excitement and they found it at Pithole. The United 
States well, (one of the largest) was struck, and otliers fol- 
lowed. The people wildl>' rushed to the scene of this new 
eldorado. Greenbacks were plenty and the i)eople appar- 
ently slung them out free as water. Most e\'ervb()dy Avas 
l)ound for Pithole — 

And many a one had to sleep on the soft side of the floor, 
And many another chap, on the a'round, out of door. 

In the course of two or three months a city was built, 
not in the most substantial manner, but it was built all the 
same: neither did they Avaitforthe surveyor to give them a 
grade for their streets or sidewalks, or a majority of conn- 



376 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 



oilmen to say whether they should build of l)rick or stone, 
but up went Pithole City. "With most all kinds of business 
people and things to behold, the town, the streets and the 
wT)ods were full of people, and everything w^ent booming. 
But alas, Pithole, like the dog, had its day. Its owner 
went off, visiting other fields, and the biggest hotel in the 
eitv was afterward sold for $1(>. 



CHAPTER CVI. 



KOADS IN OILDO.M. 



¥ 

JEs. 



^RE WAGON ROADS around Pithole, as most 
others throughout the oil region, are of a pec all ar 

\^ sort. Tliey lead off at nearly every point of the 
compass through field and underbrush, through wood and 
stream, o'er hills and valleys, (and during six or eight 
months of the year) through mud every Avhere. Thousands 
of acres thrown open to the commons gave the oil teamstc^r 
a free pass from i)oint to point, a privilege which was 
highly appreciated many times, when the road track be- 
came so mellow that his wagon wheel could not touch ])ot- 
toni. then the driver could switch off on to another track. 
Frequently }0u could see two wheels of his wagon upon a 
rock, the other two wheels feeling for a l)ottom and the off' 
side of his wagon Ijox in the mud. The whole cargo was 
inclined on an angle of about 45 degrees, and you would 
wonder how anyone but an Oil Creek teamster could come 
out of such a pcrdicament right side up. As you passed 
onward you could notice that some poor horse had quit the 
business, shaken oft* his harness and lain down on the side 
of the road to take a rest, his poor carcass to furnish food 
for the ravenous liuzzard and the crow. 

Myron Young, of Ashtabula, gives his experience on a 
trip over the roads in oildom witli horses, wagon and three 
barrels of oil. When he came into one of those? extra 



o7S PIONEER SKETCHES. 

fertile spots, his horses stopped and couldn't budge. He 
got down from his wagon, unhitclied his horses from it and 
succeeded in getting one cf them out onto terra firma, and 
with this horse and a long rope hitched around the roadster's 
neck and pulled him out. The same tactics were resorted 
to on the wagon. 

We might reasonaljly infer that on such roads the oil 
teamster must have the faith of a Christian and the heart of 
a lion to venture upon the road from Pithole to Petroleum 
Centi-e. 




CHAPTER CVII. 

ASHTA15ULA, OHIO— HARBOR — EARLY SETTLERS— GROWTH. 

ISHTABULA and its harl)or is situated on 
Lake Erie, in the northeastern i)ortion of 
the State of Ohio, and about li miles west 
^f K^ '^'^ ^^'*' Pennsylvania state line, and was 
settled in 1S(hi. It is the largest town in Ashtabula County, 
containing 10,000 inhabitants, and has at present the largest 
commercial trade in iron ore of any other lake port on the 
great chain of lakes. Its coal exports are also immense. 

The gi'owth of Ashtal)ula w^as phenomenally small until 
the completion of the Franklin & Oil City branch of the 
Lake Shore and the Ashtabula, Youngstown & Pittsburg 
Railroads in 18T5, which opened commerce to the bitum- 
inous coal fields of Mahoning, Lawrence, Beaver and 
Allegheny Counties, Pa., and also afforded an outlet for 
the shipment of iron ore from its harbor to the furnaces 
and iron mills of the Mahoning, Shenango, Allegheny and 
Youghiogheny valleys. It was then that Ashtabula began 
to boom. 

However, Ijack to the days of the old stage coach — 
1830 to IS'IS — Ashtabula was a small village with a tavern, 
a store, a scool house, a blacksmith shop and a few dwell- 
ing houses and groggeries; there was, however, quite a trade 
at the haibor. Steam and sail craft on the lakes transported 
the country's merchandise and a portion of the human 
freight, the stage coach claiming the balance of the })ass('n- 
ger tratfic. Quite a lively appearance was presented at our 



380 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

lake ports then in the absence of any raih-oads on the chain 
of lakes. 

The pioneer settlers of Ashtabula were Mathew Hub- 
bard, who came in 1803 from Butt'alo, in company' with 
another man. They came in an open boat, put into Ashta- 
l)ula Creek and stayed the tirst night under a big log in the 
valley on Capt. Scoville's farm; and during that summer 
and fall an old Indian furnished them with wild game for 
their meat. Mr. Hubliard cleared off land and sowed some 
wheat that fall (1803), and returned to Holland Patten, 
where his wife was living. He remained there for a time 
and then returned to Ashtabula. His wife Mrs Mary Hub- 
bard, accompanied by Mrs, Amos Fisk, came to Ashtal)ula 
on horse back in 1807. 

]SIr. Strong, father of Elisha C. Strong, Asher and John 
Blakesley, Ziba Seymour and others by the name of Sey- 
mour, were among the tirst settlers of Ashta!)ula and vicin- 
ity. 

Hall Smith built the first mill and opened the first tav- 
ern on the spot where the Children's Home now stands. 

The Sweet family, Isaac Sweet and the Metcalfs were 
among the first settlers on the east side. 

William Humphrey, grand-father of Alfred and Rus- 
sell C. Humphrey, built the second mill in Ashtabula, and 
afterwards, had a lot of hogs on board a vessel westward 
bound. When near Fairport the vessel foundered and Mr. 
Humphrey and crew were drowned, l)ut some of the hogs 
swam ashore. 

Amos Fisk came on to Ashtabula about lS(i;>, and was 
engaged vTith Mathew Hubl)ard in shipping salt from Buf- 
falo to Ashtal)ula. in open boats, which business to-day 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 381 

would be considered a pretty hazardous one, even for the 
expert sailor. 

A Mr. Mendall, who lived in u log cabin on Bunker 
Hill on Matliew Hubbard's farm, had several hogs in his 
pen, said to weigh from 300 to -iOO pounds each. Aliout 
midnight one night he and Mr. Hubl )ard were awakened by 
the squealing of a hog. They hurried out to the pig pen 
and found bruin pulling one of the hogs out of the pen ; 
the bear proceeded at once to walk off with his porker. 
]Mr. Hubl)ard and Mr. Mendall followed him over four dif- 
ferent fences. Finally the hog stopped squealing; they re- 
turned to the house for a light and a trap, and, returning, 
found the hog dead. They then set the trap, with a chain 
made fast to a sapling, so that when Mr. Bear returned for 
his breakfast they would catch him. Afterwards, on going 
to their trap, they found both trap and sapling gone. People 
turned out, and traced l)ear, trap and sapling to the north 
woods in Saybrook and came upon the whole oattit. Bruin 
showed fight, and lunged at Amos Fisk, who sprang aside and 
threw down his hat, which the bear tore in pic.'ces, instead 
of Mr. Fisk. The bear was killed, leaving one less in the 
bruin family. — Ed-t. from Notes of N. liubhard. 

In Xovemlx'r, 1 SOO, Seth Thayre, one of the pioneers 
of Ashtabula, was clearing land on Bunker Hill, and tree 
after tree necessarily had to be felled. WIkmi cutting down 
a gigantic hickory it carried with it Iavo other trees, a beach 
and a chestnut, together in mass over the road with a crash 
that echoed in the forest far around. 

Great was his astonishment at hearing the furious l)ark- 
ing of a dog. On running to the spot and peering beneath 
the fallen mass his dismay may be imagined at seeing a 
Avhole family, with oxen, sled and dog (all unharmed) sur- 



382 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 



rounded and covered by the fallen trees. It proved to be 
the family of Wm.Perrin, wife and two small children, who 
were on their way to visit the said Scth Thayre, riding on 
an ox sled, the usual conveyance in those days. 

When they arrived at this point they neither saw nor 
suspected danger until too late to attempt to escape. The 
tirst intimation of what was coming was the whistling of 
the l)ranches through the air. Instant retreat was cut 
oH. and the advance was wholly obstructed. A mass of 
timber tilled the road. The chestnut was ])roken up, the 
beech lay across the road on a level with the oxen's necks. 
One ponderous branch of the stately hickory was across the 
middle of the sled, and immediately behind it was another 
branch of equal size; and between these branches was Mrs. 
Perrin and her two children, all unharmed. 

Their escape from instant death was miraculous. A 
moment before the fall he occu})ied the place where a mas-, 
sive branch f(^ll which threatened to crush them to atoms, 
which was averted only by its falling across a large pile of 
brush. The furious barking of the dog, the bellowing of 
the cattle occasioned by the infliction of many stripes of 
the small limbs, the startling screams of the wojiian and 
the shrill cries of the children, and the amazement of the 
men created a scene which may be better imagined than 
<lescril)ed. Ax(?s were ]irocured and in the course of half 
an hour they were li Iterated, and the rescued party were 
again on their way. — Notes from Win. Perrin., Jr. 

In. the year ISOT, as Joseph Kerr and Esq. Perrin were 
in a log cabin, a sort of farm work shop, a sudden crashing 
.sound startled them. As they sprang out of the door Esq. 
Perrin turned to the right and Kerr to the left, the latter 
held a little bov in his arms. At this moment a larire l)ut- 



nONEER SKETCHES. '^83 

ternut tree fell upon the cabin and cruml)ie<l it down with 
the three persons under it, and confined them there. Mrs. 
Kerr, hearing the noise, rushed out to them. Groans 
mingled with the sound of the falling tree. By scooping 
away some earth she drew Esq. Perrin fiom under the tree. 
In a few moments he had so recovered himself that, with 
the use of the axe and Mrs. Kerr's assistance, they extri- 
cated the other two. None, except Mr. Kerr, were mate- 
rially injured. He had several ribs broken and discharged 
much blood, l)ut in a few months he fully recovered and 
lived many years. These worthy people were among the 
first settlers of Ashtabula, Ohio. — Ketract from Notes of 
Matthew HiiUbard. 

In 1820-21 Nehemiah Hubbard, who is now 77 years 
of age and the venerable clerk of Ashtabula Township, was 
attending school in a log cabin on the spot Avhere Richard 
Radford's buildings now stand. While on his way from 
School, at a point near the South Park, then a primeval 
forest, he met a couple of Indians. He wore a knit cap 
with a red tassel on it. One of the Indians grabbed the 
tassel and pulled the cap from Nehemiah's head and would 
not give it back to him, and he had to go home bareheaded. 
His father, Matthew Hubljard, and Mr. Mendall went down 
to Ashtal.)ula Corners that night and had a high time with 
the Indians, Ijut could not get the cap. The Indians thought 
they would keep the boy's cap to get a big treat in fire 
water, l^eads and trinkets. 

Later as Mr. Hubbard and his brother, several years 
his senior, were going home, at a point in the woods near 
the Ashtabula Tool Company's present site, they saw a long 
trail of Indians, about 200 in number, dressed in their war 
costume, with paint and feathers, and as thev brandished 



3 s 4 PIONEER SKE TCHES. 

their tomahawks it was a sight to behold, and it made the 
eyes of yomig Nehemiah stick out, while- the older brother 
said they dared not hurt them, The Indians w^ere on their 
way to the Indian Reserve, Cattaraugus Creek, near Buffalo, 
from a trip to Toledo, where they had been. 

In 1850 the Lake Shore Raih-oad was built, which 
gave to the shipper, the merchant, the tourist and the peo- 
})le generally a more rapid transit, which as a matter of ex- 
pedience to a great degree supplanted the vessel business on 
the lakes, and man}' of the hitherto grand white winged 
messengers (sailing vessels of the lake) were laid u}). to be. 
as occasion would require, supplanted by a larger steam 
craft. 

Extensive iron mines Avere discovered and (le^ol()})ed 
in the northwest, and gigantic strides in improvements 
throughout our Western States, creating a great demand for 
iron; then it came to pass that hundreds of steamI>oats and 
a good number of sail vessels were brought into requisition 
to transport this iron ore from the mines of the northwest, 
and man}' cargoes of grain from Duluth and Chicago, for 
which the Lake Shore Railroad could not compete, even 
had it the capacit}'. And now, on most any da}- during the 
shipping season one can here see a fleet of twenty to fort}- 
vessels of a tonnage of from 1,'25() to 2,500 tons. 

The people of Ashtabula during the last tifteen years 
have had a prett}- big elejihant on their hands. For its 
number of inhabitants, it has a large area of territory to 
improAc. It contains several small farms in its corporate 
limits, it has many miles of streets and sidewalks to kee]) 
up, and many miles of water mains, electric and gasolini' 
lights, a fine city hall, ten churches, school buildings, tlie 
High School l)uilding, one of the finest in the State, some 




SCALPED 



25 



386 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

fine residence and business blocks, and several prominent 
manufactories, and a street car railroad torn up to make 
room for another which we hope to have. 

While its municipal taxation is high we must have 
other improvements which are in vogue; and before the 
close of this season we expect to see a high lever bridge 
across the river and an electric street car line to the Harbor. 
And allow me to say to whom it may concern that there is 
no more suitable place for an iron plant than Ashtabula 
Harbor. A most excellent site for such an enterprise can 
be had, and there is already afforded the best facilities for 
shi})))ing by water and by rail to any point desired. Ash- 
tabula possesses the elements to become a city of forty 
thousand inhabitants in a short period of time. 

1st. It is endowed with natural advantages. 

2nd. It contains sufficient area of land in her corpor- 
ate limits. 

3rd. It contains cheap sites upon which to build, and 
excellent locations upon the railway side track to erect man- 
ufactories, and the ])est facilities for shipment by water and 
rail to any point. 

4th. It affords an excellent and cheap drainage for a 
o'ood system of sewerage which, sooner or later, must come 
in as a great factor in the; sanitary condition of any well 
regulated city. 

5th. It has a good farming country around it. 

6th. It contains a popuhice of intelligent, law and 
order al)idino" citizens and slirewd business men, numerous 
churches and excellent schools, 

Tlien, in view of the above elements already at hand, 
what is there to hinder but to put our shoulders to the 
wheel and boom her onward to the zenith wdiere she 
naturally belongs. 



CHAPTER CVIII. 

EAST SIDE. 

%SY\-W~ ITHIN the past two years unusual activity 
" ^^y/ in business and building has been going on at 
^ the Harbor on both sides of the river, es- 

pecially on the East Side. Real estate has changed hands 
to a wonderful extent, and extensive building of docks and 
appliances for increasing the facilities for handling coal and 
iron ore. A school house, church, stores and many dwell- 
ings have been erected, which augurs well for the Harbor 
people; but there has l)een one important factor that 
has precipitated this East Side real estate and building 
boom to a great extent. The Field property had been 
offered for sale for years past but there was no purchaser, 
as the snug sum of $29,000 had to be put up for its pur 
chase. Finally the time came for its sale — 

A man of pluck and venture from our country; 
The name of this man was R. C. Humphrey, 

who bought this magnificent property and proceeded at 
once to improve it, laying out and making streets and sell- 
ing allotments. A fine street called Harbor Avenue, from 
Pacific Street, Harbor, to the Lake Shore Railroad, 80 feet 
wide, is nearly completed, which will be one of the finest 
streets in the country. 

It is the intention of Mr. Humphrey and other land 
owners to build or aid largely in the construction of a high- 



388 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

lever bridge across the 'river at a point near the Lake 
Shore Kailroad this summer, which when completed will be 
of great value, not only to the land-owners on the East Side 
but to all people who want to go to the Harbor and Wood- 
land Park, East Side. 

Desirable lots and acres are being sold by Messrs. 
Humphrey, Sherman, Cook Brothers and Blythe & Haskell 
at reasonable rates and easy terms. 

And reader please allow me to say, 
If perchance you should come this way, 

I would be pleased to show terms and prices of this desir- 
able property. 




CHAPTER CIX. 

EARLY SETTLERS OF ASHTABULA. 

,ELIG SWEET came from Connecticut to Ashta- 
bula in the year 1 808, and traded his Connecticut 
farm for the Holms' tract, comprising several hun- 
dred acres, located at the East Village and extending from 
the north line of Jasen Fargo's farm, no^v occupied by the 
Fargo Bros., to the Lake Shore. Mr. Sweet died in 1825, 
and previous to his death he gave to his sons Isaac, Pelig, 
Ruf us, William and Ira and to his four daughters all a farm. 
His son Isaac lived to the advanced age of 95 years. We 
notice by papers of Mr. Sweet transactions with early set- 
tlers in Ashtabula of John and Wm. Wetmore, Eli Hol- 
comb, Asa Amsden, Benj. W. Allen, N. Wilcox, Chester 
Wood, Caleb Parish. 

Jasen Fargo was one of the prominent hard working 
early settlers of Ashtabula, East Side. 

John Loyd, now a resident of Westfield, N. Y., was 
one of our pioneer lake men. He is now 88 years old, 
stra'ght as an arrow and mentally bright. In his boyhood 
days he sailed upon the Atlantic Ocean. In 1825 he com- 
menced to sail upon the chain of lakes on board the White 
Pigeon till 1827, then master of steamer William Peacock, 
belonging to Seth Reed, of Erie, and the William Penn and 
Charles Townsend, which were the only steamers on the 
lake at that time. 



390 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

When on board the Kenningston, Capt. Curtis, from 
Liverpool to New York, was three months and three days 
in making the voyage. He got shipwrecked on Georges 
Banks, Newfoundland and had nothing but crackers to eat 
and no water to drink for three days, except the little they 
could lap from the dew on the sails of the vessel. 

Anen Harmon, one of the early settlers of Ashtabula, 
took up the large tract of land known as the "Harmon 
Flats," and jdso the uplands extending to the East Village 
and north of the Lake Shore Railroad. This man Harmon 
did not accustom himself to do things by halves, nor in 
those former crude days did he stop to polish words to 
express himself. At the time when the iirst baptism took 
place in Ashtabula, in ice cold weather, when the lady who 
was being baptized came out of the water the preacher 
asked her if she was not cold, to which the lady replied 
"no," whereupon Mr. Harmon quickly said to the minister, 
"Put her in again, d-m her, until she stops lying." Mr. 
Harmon thought the lady must have been cold and he thus 
frankly and roughly expressed himself, as he always did, 
in a stentorian voice. On another occasion Preacher 
Sanders was holding a series of Campbcllite meetings 
and quite an interest was taken in them. At the close of 
the evening services the minister made the announcement 
that if there were any present Avho wanted to be ba|)tized 
to rise up. One Martin Watrous, who was present and 
who was chock full of the "white horse," said, looking 
toward the minister — "I believe Mr. Harmon rose uj);" to 
which Mr. Harmon quickly replied, "Its a d-d lie, for I 
never stirred." The preacher laughed heartily, as also did 
the congregation. Mr, Birdsey Metcalf, now an aged citi- 
zen of East Ashtabula, was present at the time and sat at 



PIONEER SKETCHES 391 

the side of Mr. Harmon, whose speech, he said, created 
quite a flutter and a laughable scene at the close of that 
evening's meeting. 

While we consider that it takes all sorts of people to 
make up a community, we will have to excuse the bluff 
style of Mr. Harmon, it being characteristic in him to 
spontaneously blurt out whatever came to his mind, alike to 
the saint and the sinner. 

We understand that Mr. Harmon possessed redeeming 
qualities, was a stirring, energetic and a useful man in the 
community- 
Rough diamonds, when j)ut to the test, 
Sometimes turn out to be the best. 



CHAPTER ex. 




JOHN METCALF. 

HE subject of this sketch came to 
Ashtabula in 1808. He carried 
the mail from Erie to Cleveland 
when this country was a howling 
wilderness, with no roads and 
few settlers. No bridges on 
which to cross the streams, often- 
times he had to svvim across the 
swollen streams, carrying his mail 
pouch lashed to his head. 

In 1812, there having been some improvements made, 
he was enabled to carry the mail in a double wagon. On 
the ridge, in favored places, he could get along quite well; 
but a considerable part of the way he had to pound along 
over corduroy. In 1815 he used a small stage coach. 

Bidders for such a mail route, for the salary paid for 
running it, would not be easily found to day. The priva- 
tions and the exposures would be too great of course for 
the average man of 1891. 

On a certain occasion a party was to come off at Bun- 
ker Hill, and the gentlemen were given the names of the 
ladies to take to the dance. John Metcalf was delegated 
to take Miss Lucy Strong. Horseback was the mode of 
conveyance in those days. When the hour arrived Metcalf 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 398 

was on hand for his Miss Lucy, who took passage on the 
horse's back behind John, and as Lucy happened to be one 
of the phimp variety, of more than the ordinary avoirdupois 
and obesity, there did not a})pear to be sufficient room 
aboard for her, and she slipped off. She got on again and 
presently slipped oft' again. Undaunted she mounted again 
and oft" she slipped and exclaimed, "I am oft" again." John 
replied, "No, you are not," and kept right on his way to 
Bunkei' Hill, and sent an ox team and a sled after Lucy 
and got her at last to the party, and on went the dance, 
and a pleasant time they had at Bunker Hill and the boys 
didn't go home with the girls until the wee hours of the 
morning. 

In 1814 he married Miss Clarissa Sweet, a daughter 
of Pelig Sweet of East Ashtabula, and afterwards engaged 
in the fur trade at Green Bay, Wis. John Law, of this 
place, with whom he stopped, furnished him with plenty 
Johnny cake or hominy and bear's grease while at Green 
Bay, which was the standard ration for the Green Bay man 
at that time, and was said to be a very good diet for the 
consumptive and the dyspeptic, or to tickle the appetite, 
and also to make the hair grow on the lip of a dude. 

Mr. Metcalf generally sold his furs in Albany and 
Troy, New York, which business seems to have been a very 
lucrative one with the Astors, and all who engaged in the 
business on an extensive scale. 

Mr. Metcalf will be remembered as one of the heroic 
pioneers of the Western Reserve, who had to stand upon 
his merits and cut his way through from crude privation to 
a competency, and the perseverence and the energy exhib- 
ited by him has met its reward, in the industrious, correct 



394 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

traits of character developed in his sons, Birdsey and Ezra 
Metcalf, prominent and wealthy citizens and farmers of 
East Ashtabula, Avhich aflbrds a consolation to the sire as 
he looks back through the dim vista to behold that he left 
competent hands at the ship and at the ploAV. 




CHAPTER CXI. 



THE FIRST VESSEL BUILT AT ASHTABULA. 




^ 



HE FIEST vessel launched at 
Aslitalnila was built by Anen Harmon, 
and was the occasion for a great turn 
out of the people all over the coun- 
try. The day was pleasant, and the 
vessel was launched successfully. 
Aboard of it were a good number of 
men, women and children, and several 
baljcs in their mothers' arms. Captain Jack and the in- 
trepid Anen Harmon were also aboard. The latter, it was 
said, was liquored up to a reckless degree, which was prob- 
ably the cause of the saddest event in the early history of 
Ashtabula. 

Soon after the launching of the vessel, when two or 
three hundred people were aboad, its owner wanted to test 
its rocking powers, and he called on the people to stand on 
one side of the vessel and rock her, which they did. 
"Eock her more," he shouted. This being done, he again 
said: " Rock her more." At this juncture Captain Jack 
said : ' ' She has been rocked all she can stand. " ' ' Pshaw ! " 
said Harmon. . "Well," said Captain Jack, "if you per- 
sist, I am going ashore," and he got off the boat. The 
people, thinking that Captain Jack was rather timid, and 



396 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

perhaps didn't know much about the boat, again obeyed 
Harmon's command to "rock her," and over went the boat, 
throwing the men, women, chiklren and babes into the 
water. 

In the excitement that followed some of the babes 
floated from their mother's arms and were saved, as were 
also the women, but strange to say, seven stalwart, worthy 
young men were drowned, casting sorrow over the com- 
munity, into seven stricken families, leaving seven vacant 
chairs. Stranger still is the coincidence that all of the seven 
drowned were of an age between 22 and 23 years. Among 
the number was Amos Bachelor, of Kingsville, who was a 
very promising and intelligent young man, beloved by all 
who knew him for his reliable and manly traits of character. 
He had declined several times to 2:0, bein<2r enffaofed in 
burning ofi a fallow. Finally two men rode into the field 
and said to him that he must go. He consented, and upon 
arriving at the house his mother said to him, "-I'm glad you 
are going with the rest. " ' 'But, " said he, ' 'it seems to me I 
ought not to go. " When the sad news was conveyed to his 
mother she was overcome with grief. 

This was a day long to l)e remembered by the friends 
of the victims. There was a great difference between the 
cool judgment of Captain Jack and the whisky clamor of 
the vessel owner, who, wanting to do something, capsized 
his vessel and drowned seven men. 



CHAPTER CXII. 

WILLIAM HUMPHREY. 

WILLIAM HUMPHREY was one of the early 
settlers and business men of Ashtalula. His 
venture was in the grocery, provision and bakery 
business at Ashtabula Harbor. Later he acquired con- 
siderable real estate situate on and in close proximity to 
some of the principal streets in Ashtabula, several of which 
bear the names of members of his family. In the early 
days he purchased a large tract of land in the big marsh in 
Plymouth Township, through which the Jefferson plank 
road was laid, a good portion of which is now drained, 
cleared off and has become the most productive land in the 
county. 

Mr. Humphrey possessed an excellent judgment, and 
for the same outlay on the first cost of his real estate trans- 
actions realized a greater value therefrom than any other 
man, with the exception of H. E. Parson's Chicago deal. 

Mr. Humphrey was eccentric, but he generally looked 
out for Humphrey, and went through all right vdthout a 
tag on. A transaction is related of him during his early 
days in trade at the Harbor. While in Buffalo buying 
goods he attended an auction. The auctioneer was selling 
tobacco. "• How much am I offered for a pound or for the 
lot ?" he cried. Humphrey bid and it was struck off to him. 
"How much will you take V" " I will take the whole lot." 



398 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

"Ah, no sir; I can't let the whole lot go at that price." "I 
bought the whole lot," said Humphrey. The auctioneer 
went on. Presently Humphrey said to him, "I want my 
tobacco; I will insist on it if it takes all summer." He got 
the tobacco and realized a good thing on it. 

One da}^ Mrs. Humphrey accidentally fell into the 
river near her residence and was about to sink under the 
surface of the water when Thomas Mosher. of Ashtabula, 
jumped into the water just in time to save her. When Mr. 
Humphrey returned home he was informed of the accident 
and the timely rescue, to which he replied, "If you had let 
her alone she probably would have got out herself." 

Afterward, by many, he was called "Old Proba- 
bility." His estimable wife, at all events, was spared 
to aid him, and proved a great helpmate to him. Years 
later, when the Lake business fell off, Mr. Humphrey 
moved up town, where he kept a large stock of general mer- 
chandise and continued in trade for some 3"ears. His wife 
having died, he again married a worthy lady lady of more 
than ordinary attainments, who lives in her pleasant home 
left by her departed luisband. She was reading in a news- 
paper of a lady who had been l)uried alive and she said to 
her husband, "Here is another of those sad happenings of 
persons buried alive ; and William, it is m}^ request that 
my l)0(ly be kept a suthcient time in a vault after I 
am dead. The idea of being buried alive is shocking ! " 
"Have no fear, my dear," said Humphrey ; "the folks will 
know you are dead when you sto]i talkmg." 

Mr. Humphrey was a man of few words, but made 
them count, as he did his business transactions. He left a fine 
property and a w^orthy Avife and family to inherit it, whom 
we know to be well-to-do, and are industrious and reliable 
citizens. 



CHAPTER CXIII. 



L. W. SMITH. 



^HE SUBJECT of this sketch, L. W. Smith, was 
born in Ashtabuhi, Ohio, in 1825. With the 
exception of twenty years in middle life spent in 
the mercantile business in New York, he has been ensrasfed 
in the mercantile business in Ashtaljula, in which he was 
prosperous, and it soon became apparent that he had come 
to stay, to be recognized as one of the prominent citizens 
and traders of Ashtabula. Possessing the happy faculty 
of a sound judgment in matters generally, pertaining to 
his business, he early learned the value of a dollar, how to 
make it and how to keep it. He invested in real estate 
and when the signs came right, the prospect that Ashtabula 
was to become a point of some importance, his real estate 
possessions were steadily augmented. In 1873 the southern 
roads, the Franklin branch and the Ashtabula & Pittsburs: 
railroads were built. Quite a boom was given to Ashta- 
bula, tfien containing 2,800 inhabitants. With an eye to 
the growing village by an influx of people, creating a 
demand for dwelling houses, Mr. Smith soon erected num- 
erous dwelling houses, which were eagerly taken by renters, 
and when the roads were completed to the Harbor the 
Swede and the Finlander followed in their wake. 



400 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

The advent of business at Ashtabula Harbor created a 
boom in Harbor and uptown property, and rents and prop- 
erty were higher for a time than ever before in the history 
of Ashtabula. 

The opera house, the brick blocks, and the num- 
erous dwelling houses owned and erected by L. W. 
Smith, of Ashtabula, if they all stood upon a rural 
site would make quite a burg. Mr. Smith has been 
an inveterate worker; took ojff his coat and put his hand 
to the plow on many a field, and turned up a prolific 
soil, which will prove a consolation to him in his declining 
years that it will be remunerative to himself and to his 
posterity. His only son, Mr. James L. Smith, on account 
of the declining health of his father, principally assumes 
the management of the business affairs. He is a courteous 
gentleman, and we believe fully capable of its successful 
management. 



CHAPTER CXIV. 

FARGO BROTHERS. 



/f -^I^ HE FARGO BROTHERS, of East Ashtabula, 
($ I c) live on the site selected by their ancestor, Jascn 
JAL Fargo, who was one of the early settlers of Ash- 
tabuhi. This estate originally contained upwards of 300 
acres. The Fargo Brothers have added consideral)ly to it, 
and it now comprises 500 acres, and there is no finer estate 
in Ashtabula County. It contains the elements requisite 
for an excellent dairy farm, a variety of soil for pasture, 
meadow and plough lands, and an abundance of good water 
for stock, lined by the Ashtabula Creek on two sides and 
centrally having an ab^mdant supply of good spring water. 

The Fargo Brothers are the pioneer milk dealers of 
Ashtabula, and for many years have thoroughly run their 
routes. When the floods came and submerged the roads 
leading to the city, they crossed the dizzy height of the 
Nickel Plate bridge and got a hand car with which to trans- 
port their cans of milk. Then with a livery rig they dis- 
pensed the lacteal fluid to their customers. 

This sort of valor took much better with their custom- 
ers than to have said to them: "You will have to drink 
water or lager for a spell, or milk your mountain goats 
until the waters shall have subsided over the valley of 
Ashtabula." 

The people well know that the Fargo Brothers are use- 
ful and important factors in the conmuuiity, and know that 
26 



402 



F/ONEER SKETCHES. 



from their hands they are served to the best quality of 
milk, and good measure, 365 days in the year. 

The courteous and honorable treatment extended to 
their patrons during all these years bespeak well for them, 
and they have not only held their ground, but their trade 
has constantly increased. 

Their two veteran peddlers on the route, Messrs. Ed. 
Woodard and Jepp Jensen, than whom no better men can 
be found for the business, are still on deck to-day, ' ' un- 
g ripped" and unmarried. 

Nothing succeeds like success. 




CHAPTER CXV 



THE ASHTABULA DISASTER. 




[See Cut on page 211.] 

X THE EVENING of December 29th, 
1870, Lake Shore tram No. 5, three hours 
late, during a terrific snow storm, went 
down with the Ashtabula bridge, seventy- 
six feet to the icy bed of the river below. 
The train was a heavy one, loaded with 
passengers, many of them on a New 
Year's excursion to visit friends. When 
upon this bridge, it suddenly collapsed, 
and the great train with its precious load was hurled into 
the river below. A hundred or more never rose from that 
icy bed, and the wreck was soon enveloped in flames, to add 
horror to the awful scene. The fury of the storm, with 
the mercury ten degrees below zero, the heart-rending 
shrieks of those who could not be extricated from the lap 
of the fiery flames which transformed many precious bodies 
to charred and blackened dust, created a scene better 
imagined than described. The click of the telegraph wire 
conveying the news of the sad disaster, the hurrying of 
anxious friends from Maine to California and nearer by to 
this awful scene, the anxious look, the terrible supense, the 
searching through the ice to discover some relic of the 
dear one who was known to have been on the ill-fated 
train; then from the valley of the death up to the morgue 
to look over the charred remains, the agonizing look of des- 
pair, never will, by the many, be forgotten. 



404 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Messrs. Kepler and A. H. Stockwell, of Ashtabula, 
and Garwood Stowe, of Geneva, and the evangelist and 
great singer Bliss and his wife were nmong the victims. 
Mr. Martin, wife and two children, of Lenox, Ashtabula 
County, were injured. Mr. Martin was pretty badly 
crushed and had a few ribs broken. Mrs. Martin, who was 
in delicate health from an untimely childbirth, and their 
two small children miraculously escaped. 

Of this horror much has already been written, and 
suffice it to say that something like a half million dollars 
was paid by the Lake Shore Railroad Company as damages 
for the dead and injured in one of the greatest railroad 
horrors on the A merican Continent. 




CHAPTER CXVI. 

GRANVILLE LOOMIS. 

HIS BOYHOOD — HE STARTS FOB MENOMIXEE, WIS. — HIS MURDER AT 
STONY RIDGE, OHIO— DETECTIVES SQUIKES AND BROWN. 

HE SUBJECT of this sketch was an eccentric 
young man, though honest, peaceful and Indus, 
trious. In IS 78 he l)ought a lot on wdiat is now 
Auburn Street, then on the Commons of Ashtabula, wdiich 
location appeared to suit his desire to live a sort of pioneer 
life. He therefore placed on his lot a couple of large dry 
goods boxes, in which he took up his aljodc. In one of 
these boxes he done his cooking, kitchen and house work; 
the other he used for his sleeping room, which w^as the 
second story of his cabin on the plain, as he called it, the 
box in wdiich he s^lept setting on top of his kitchen. This 
eccentric lad had a shot gun with which he occasionally 
shot a bird or a rabbit, and a string of fish, that he now 
and then caught, supplied him principally with meat. 
This manner of living seemed to suit him. 

However, he became anxious to be earning something 
m(n*e for himself by way of a steady employment. He 
therefore went to work out by the month in Saybrook, O., 
on a farm in an adjoining town, where he received pretty 
luu'sh treatment for a trivial cause at the hands of his em- 
}>loyer. The matter was tak(;n to tlie courts and quite a 
sum in damages awarded him. Soon after Loomis l)()ught 
a horse and skeleton bugg)' and was living in Orwell, Ohio, 
where he formed an acquaintance with a young man by the 



406 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

name of A. J. Grover, whose parents lived in Menominee, 
Mich. Thereupon an expediton was planed to go west. 
Loomis, with his horse, buggy and trunk, accompanied by 
Grover, set out on their journey for tlie west. It appears 
that they traveled on together to a point in Wood County, 
Stony Ridge, where some four days later the dead body of 
Loomis was found, his head being crushed, showing unmis- 
takable signs of a foul murder, and by papers and letters 
worked into his clothing they identified his former residence. 

This information soon reached the friends of the mur- 
dered boy, who engaged the services of S. A. Squires, an 
Ashtabula detective, and he at once started in pursuit to 
ferret out, and if possible, to capture the murderer. On 
arriving at Stony Ridge, where the body of Loomis was 
found l)y a farmer near a log-heap, where evidently they had 
stayed over night. A portion of his head and face was cut 
off to obliterate a scar. 

Sheriff Brown, in the meantime, had diligently searched 
the country around, but could get no clue of the murderer, 
whereupon a consultation was held, and he and Mr. Squires 
went to Toledo and thence to Adrian, Michigan, where an 
uncle of Grover lived, who was a minister. He, however, 
had not seen Grover for some time, and said he Avas a 
vicious fellow— that he (Grover) would maim antl torture 
animals; that he had killed a cow with a pitchfork; that he 
was a destructive fellow, and he did not want him al)out 
his premises. 

He however informed the detectives that Grover had a 
sister at Saginaw, to which place they went. After a fruit- 
less search for three days they started for Menominee, 
Michigan, hearing nothing on the route except that a])arty 
had seen a horse and buggy answering tiie description of 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 407 

the one that Looinis started out with. On reachhig 
Menominee they found Loomis' trunk and tool chest, which 
had been shipped on, and had just arrived there from a 
station west of Clevehmd via the Lake Shore Raih'oad ; but 
no one had seen Grover since the fall before. Thereupon 
Mr. Squires made a confidante of the freight agent at 
Menominee and agreed with him to have him let them know 
at once, by messenger, if anyone should call for this 
baofora^e. as he and the sheriff were going; to reconnoitre the 
country around — to Grover's father's, some five miles out, 
to Grover's farm, 45 miles out, and at other places where 
they might intercept him — for at this juncture these wily 
detectives, like sleuth bloodhounds, seemed to scent the 
murderer afar off. 

Daily communication was had with the railroad agent 
at Menominee. They learned at the lumber mills, where 
Grover had previously worked, that he was considered a 
tough, that a couple of their men, Italians, with five or six 
hundred dollars in money, disappeared one night when in 
company with Grover, and suspicion rested on him. 

They visited Grover's place at Prairie Farm, a secluded 
spot, but found no one about there. They forced an entrance 
to his cabin, and found therein most all sort of parapher- 
nalia, portions of harness and tackle, a half dozen 
revolvers, bowie knives and love letters from and to his girl. 

They according set out to visit the girl, and her parents, 
of course, at Cross Keys, aljout twenty-eight miles from 
Menominee and twelve miles from Grover's place. With 
fish-poles in hand these (now land buyers) started up the 
stream, baited their hooks and caught some fish in sight of 
her father's house, who, by the way, was a minister and a 



408 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

nice man, and had a nice daughter, too. But the gallant 
Squires found that she was engaged to Grover. 

At this place the detectives took dinner, and of course 
they were well acquainted all at once with Grover, ])ut 
neither of them had ever seen him. The old lady finally 
said Grover was a good fellow, anyhow, because he had 
done them a good deed by saving their home, as a mort- 
gage would have closed on it had it not been for him, who 
put up the money. Then came an opportunity for the 
inquisitive Sandy Squires, who asked the young lady if she 
was not engaged to marr}' Grover. She smiled and said: 
"Perhaps." 

Days and Aveeks had passed and their prey had not 
put in an appearance. Time wore on monotonously, l)ut 
Sandy and the Sheriif thought they would work on that 
web line if it took all summer. Mr. Brown repaired to 
Prairie Farm and Squires to Black River Falls. 

With the information Squires and Brown had already 
obtained about Arthur J. Grover, they were still constantly 
on the alert to fortify their case against this culprit for any 
unforseen emergency that might arise in his behalf. They 
sought people and places, high and low, and on coming 
across a disreputable house outside the city of Menominee 
the detectives found that Grover had there lieen em})loyed 
as a night watchman, and while thus employed had made 
love to the boss s})ort of tln^ i^reniises and agreed to marry 
her, for which she bought him a i^50 wedding suit. But 
Grover, after getting the new suit, failed to comply with 
his part of the contract. The woman then dechired she 
would shoot him and he fled to Orwell, Ashtabula County, 
Ohio, to some relatives, where he stayed over winter, pre- 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 409 

vious to startino^ out with Loonii.s in the following spring, 
as he rein before mentioned. 

Brown now being at Prairie Farm, Avith a view of in- 
teree})ting Grover at tliat point, while Squires remained at 
Blaek River Falls, with an eye to the same purpose; and 
just at dark Grover emerged from the woods with horse 
and buggy and made for a point to eross the river, but 
found the bridge gxme. He returncxl to take another route 
when Squires captured him. He was then twenty-eight 
miles from Menominee, to which place Grover was bound. 
Mr. Squires told him he would take him to Menominee 
and put him in jail there, or he w^ould take him to Madison. 
Grover said he would not go to Menominee. Squires told 
him he had better go to Menominee, as he Mould be there 
a week, and he would have an opportunity to see his pa- 
rents and friends, as it would prol)al)ly be a long, cold day 
before he would see them at home again. Grover replied 
that if they would let his friends come and see him he 
would consent to go to Menominee, to which place he was 
jailed to await for the necessary requisition papers. 

Some four days were required to olitain the papers, 
and during that time knots and groups of men were seen 
gathering in places, and a considerable feeling was mani- 
fested, and talk of not letting the officers take away their 
prisoner. 

In Grover they had traced a dark career 
Already for one so young iu years. 

GroveFs father and mother called at the jail to see 

him; also Mr. and Mrs. and Miss , his affianced. And 

when the young lady noticed the two agreeable gentlemen 
in charge of Grover, who a few days before had dined with 
her parents and herself, she looked upon them with amaze- 



410 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

ment; and upon realizing the enormity of the crime with 
which her lover was charged, the poor girl was overcome with 
grief and despair. 

This was a .scene in life's cruel dramatic side, 
Bringing hopes forlorn to the intended hride. 
Far better for her to know before she had wed, 
To heap remorseless pangs upon her youthful head. 

He had traveled with horse and buggy by night time 
from Stony Ridge, Ohio, this long journey and secreted 
himself in the woods in the daytime. His parents and rel- 
atives generally were respectable people — 

But it seems the aggregation of vituperation 
In him had its concentration. 

The hour of midnight of the tif th day after the capture 
was fixed upon to take Grover from the jail to Madison, 
Wis. At 10 o'clock the same night two men called on 
Brown, saying, "When are you going to takeaway the pris- 
oner," and added, "in the morning, wc conclude, as your 
companion Squires has gone with the horse," to which 
Brown replied, "In the course of three or four days." But 
in two hours he started with his prisoner for Madison; there 
getting the necessary authority, he proceeded to Bowling 
Green, Ohio, with his prisoner, and safely lodged him in 
jail, in June 1S82, there to await his trial. Mr. Squires 
had a tedious drive across the country with horse and bug- 
gy, which he turned over to the State. 

The trial of Grover for the murder of Granville 
Loomis came off at the first term of Court in August. He 
was ably defended by James Tyler, Esq., formerly of Ash- 
tabula, O. Grover was found guilty of murder and sen- 
tenced to be hung, and he paid the penalty for his crime. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 411 

I presume the reader will never find 

In history of relentless crime, 

On criminal record the world over, 

A fouler murder than by this man Grover. 

Mr. Squires of Ashtabula, and Mr. George M. Brown, 
of Bowling Green, Ohio, are entitled to much praise at the 
hands of a law abiding people throughout the community 
for their sagacity and perseverance in the Grover-Loomis 
murder case in capturing and bringing to justice a young 
hardened criminal, who evidently from his makeup, would 
have been a living terror in our community. Mr. Squires' 
traveling expenses on this case were $518, and he covered 
2,976 miles. 

The wedding suit which Grover obtained — 

Through the fast woman of Menominee, 

As you now so strangely see, 

Is the same suit which he 

AVore from the gallows to eternity. 



CHAPTER CXVII. 

PAINESYILLE, OHIO. 

^"■^^ AINESVILLE is the county seat of Lake 
**<• ■ County, Ohio, situated al)out three miles from 

II m\ Lake Erie, and its harbor (Fairport) at the 
J^~^ mouth of Grand River. Grand River is 
• rightly named, as it aflbrds one of the grand- 

est harbors on the chain of lakes, susceptible of making an 
extensive harbor at comparatively light expense. 

The incoming of the B., P. & F. R. R. to Fairport in 
188- created a coal and ore trade with the Mahoning, She- 
nango and Allegheny valleys which has already become 
quite extensive, creating a lively real estate and building 
boom at Fairport and giving the uptown business quite an 
impetus, which bids fair to continue, because there seems 
to be a good prospect for another railroad to Fairport, and 
because Painesville is the most solid, well-built up and 
nicest and most pleasantly situated towns on the Western 
Reserve. It has an intelligent and retined class of citizens, 
with good schools and churches. Its people ar(^ principally 
of the New England stock, who l)elieve in ha\ing every- 
thing run in a pretty good degn^e of taste and order. 
The streets and the sidewalks throughout the town are in 
good condition, and many a pedestrian will return thanks to 
the city dads when they are engaged in that sacred line of 
dutv. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 413 

Among the early settlers of Painesville and vicinity 
were Joel Holcomb, Marcus Holcomb, Lovisa Holcomb, 
James Wright, E. D. Howe, Benjamin Tracy, William 
Kerr, Hezekiali Cole, Josephus Huntington, Milo Harris, 
S. Racy, Calvin Cole, James H. Paine, Stephen Matthews, 
Marvin Huntington, Milton Armstrong, Harry Abies, 
David Page, Reuben Hitchcock, Robert Blaire, Chester 
Stocking, Joel Parmley, Thomas Wright, Jonathan Veasey 
and John McMurphy. 

Little Mountain, the charming resort in Lake County, 
is where many people find rest and recreation. It is a per- 
plexing question with many people of the United States at 
this time of the year who are seeldng a place of rest from 
the busy cares of the world," to know where to go. The 
matter of distance and expense is an important factor with 
the masses, though places that are remote have a greater 
attraction for the wealthy than the most delightful retreats 
nature has provided near at home. 

Little Mountain is situated a few miles southwest from 
Painesville and is one of the most charming places for a 
summer resort. It is a grand natural curiosity. It rises at 
an altitude of TOO feet above Lake Erie, and is covered with 
lofty pines and the broad plateau on the summit embraces 
about 100 acres. From the summit the view is magnificent. 
The villages and hamlets on the plains Ijelow for miles away 
spread out before the eye, and a Ijroad expanse of Lake 
Erie, dotted with numerous vviiite-wini;ed messeno^ers of 

commerce and tnide come within the rano-e. 

o 

From 1810 to 18i20 there seems to have been a lively 
emigration from the New England States and from York 
State to the Western Reserve, then called the Far West, 



414 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

and Painesville and Warren got their full share of this 
exodus. In those days the pioneer settlers along the route 
from Buffalo to Erie would halloo the passing wagon trains 
of emigrants, "Where are you bound for?" and the 
res})onse was, "To the Western Reserve."" Painesville, 
Cleveland, Warren, Burton, Eavcnna. Akron, Geneva, 
Ashtabula, Jefferson and Conneaut still l)ear evidence of 
these still living pioneers, who at Painesville (throughout 
Lake .County) yearly assemble, for social intercourse in 
relating their experience of pioneer life. 

It is a grand thing to look in upon these pioneer meet- 
ings, to notice the zeal and enthusiasm manifested by the 
venerable sires and the matrons in rehearsing the experi- 
ence, scenes and incidents of early days of the pioneer 
settlers of this country. We cannot pay too great a tribute 
to these people. Their heroic struggles in early. days fur- 
nishes us an exemplary index to industry^ frugality, 
honesty and line of an honorable life. 




CHAPTER CXVIII. 

JEFFERSON. 

EFFERSON, the county scat of Ashtabula County, 
Ohio, and the home of Benj. F. Wade and Joshua 
R. Giddings, is pleasantly situated on a conlmand- 
ing eminence of country about twelve miles south of Lake 
Erie. Ashtabula County is the largest county, containing 
the greatest area of arable land, of any county in the 
State. Then, it being the largest county, it is not to be 
wondered that it has produced some of the biggest men. 

Among its early settlers were the intrepid Joshua R. 
Giddings and Benj. F. Wade, who always spoke with no 
uncertain sound in the halls of Congress and the United 
States Senate. They were imbued with a sentiment of 
freedom, loyalty and American patriotism, and this they 
unflinchingly administered on all occasions and in all 
places. For the lack, in number, of such men, principally 
in 1861, the great American conflict was precipitated. Such 
men would say — 

'Tis enough to battle the vicissitudes of life, 
Not to engage Avith a brother in deadly strife; 
And pick up the battle axe, thus to wield 
On many a Southern battlefield. 

During his anti-slavery sentiment in a speech on the 
Missouri Compromise in 1841, Mr. Giddings was attacked 
by Mr. Black, of Mississippi. He undauntingly continued 
his speech, waving in one hand his weapon, with the other 
his logic, and had his say out. And during the same year 



416 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

we shall not forget his great anti-slavery speech at Con- 
neautville, the tirst and only time the writer ever had the 
oi)poitunity of hearing Mr. Giddings. 

In 1861 I head Benj. F. Wade at Erie. He spoke with 
no uncertain sound, and his logic* and lo^al sentiment went 
home to the heart of every loyal man. Peace to their ashes. 

Jeflferson is well provided with good schools, churches, 
stores and hotels, some mills and manufactories, a railroad, 
and some able jurists to adorn the court-house, and, as a 
matter of course, to relieve the client occasionally of some 
of his surplus lucre. 

Several law firms there necessarily have to transact 
a considerable legal business. Among them is the law firm 
of Northway & Fitch, who appear to have considerable 
legal business to attend to over at the Hub. And during 
the past fifteen years, in political campaigns, manj^ times 
the argumentative, silvery-tongued S. A. North way has been 
called out. His speeches are delivered in a masterly man- 
ner, holding, as it were, spell-bound his audiences on many 
occasions; and in the political arena throughout this section 
of the country he has been an important factor. 




CHAPTER CXIX. 

GENEVA, OHIO. 

EXEVA is situated upon and along both sides of 
the North Ridge Road, about three miles south 
of Lake Erie, in the Township of Geneva, Ash- 
tabula County, Ohio. It is noted for its fine soil and the 
site upon which the village is located. Its inhabitants do 
not have to chafe over the prospects and location of the 
different high level bridges, over which to span an almost 
impassible gulf, nor the amount of money to be appropri- 
ated by Uncle Sam in the improvement of their lake 
harbor, and seemingly, are content with a pleasantly located 
and prosperous town of about 7,000 inhabitants, comprising 
tine residences, schools, churches, stores, manufactories, 
some fine new business Ijlocks and with all a good lively 
country trade. These are elements ^vhich go hand in hand 
with an intelligent and earnest people. The Genevite need 
not go abroad to Erie or Cleveland to purchase good goods 
for such can be found at home in those new spacious stores. 

The new brick blocks lately erected in Geneva add 
greatly to the appearance and stability of the town, and 
other larger places assuming the proportions of a city 
would do well to imitate. It seems that the Genevites do 
not believe in doing things by halves, from the prompt 
manner and the style in which they rebuilt their burnt dis- 
trict. When the time comes, which will not be at a far dis- 
tant day, we will expect to see still greater improvements 
in the pleasant and substantial town of Geneva. 

21 



418 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 



Among; the old contractors of Geneva we notice H. 
W. Stone, who is still on deck, a rival for all, as the work 
will show for itself on Morgan's store and Pat Grace's 
porch. The large number of buildings in Geneva built by 
Mr. Stone in years past still aflbrds a pleasant reminder 
that he has not lost his gi-ip in doing a good job, when he 
undertakes to, among the pioneers of Geneva. 




CHAPTER CXX. 



WARREN. 

ARREN, the county seat of Trumbull 
County, Ohio, was settled nearly a cen- 
tury ago, upon a pleasant rolling site 
on the Mahoning River. It contains a 
population of from 6,000 to 7,000 in- 
habitants. It has good churches, schools, 
public buildings, hotels and spacious 
stores, rolling mills and other prominent 
manufactories. It has good railway 
facilities : The Ashtabula, Youngstown 
& Pittsburg, the N. Y. P. & O., the P. 
P. & F. Railroads, and the Mahoning 
Coal Road run through the town, and 
an Electric Street Railroad to Niles. 

Warren is a progressive town, and with the steady 
march of time one will notice improvements going on of a 
substantial character, and like its sister city, Painesville, it 
takes much pride in its streets, residences, lawns, shade 
trees and sanitary condition, to make it what it is: — one of 
the nicest and pleasantest towns in Ohio. 

Among its pioneers who have passed on were Charles 
and Henry King, Vangorder, Dr. Harmon, the Quinbys, 
Perkins, Judge Kinsman, tlie Abies, Adams, Judge King 
and Judge Spear. Among the early business men, and 




420 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

who are still operating, are Smith & McCombs, Mr. Idclings, 
Mr. Griswold, Anderson & Ralph, Hoyte Brothers, Parks 
& Wentz, the Smiths, Thomas McClure, Warren Packard 
and others. 

Towns and cities, like nations, are measm-ed by the 
calibre and intelligence of its people, the outcome of which 
is to make them strong, prosperous and happy. 





CHAPTER CXXI. 

THE INDIAN. 

HILE THE Indian has, j at times, over- 
stepped his bounds. Col. Dodge, in his 
"Thirty Years Among the Indians," says 
that they have been mistreated and they have been no more 
in the wrong; than has the white man. In an Indian dele- 
gation recently at Washington, was the Rev. Charles Cook, 
a full-blooded Sioux Episcopal minister at Pine Ridge. 

It seems that there should be something better in store 
for poor Lo. He is an ideal of originality, naturally of 
quick perception and intelligence. Many instances prove 
that whenever he has set out in the pursuit of knowledge 
he has succeeded, which should serve as an incentive for 
the Red man to make a general move in the direction of 
civilization, agriculture, schools and a right to citizenship 
in the land he originally preoccupied. 

He has named many of our principal rivers, streams 
and places. He has also named himself after animals, 
reptiles and the elements, fire, water, thunder and lightning. 
He has shown us that he could make a nicer bark canoe, 
moccasin or a bow and arrow and other fancy articles beau- 
tifully trimmed with the quill of the porcupine, than can 
the white man. Also that he is susceptible of improvement 
in education and can l)ecome an eloquent orator, and on 
more than one field he has proved himself brave in battle. 
But we freely send our missionaries — 



422 



PIONEER SKEICHES. 



To India's distant land, 

To educate her heathen on her coral strand; 

Also into China and Japan, 

Into the Dark Continent, Afric's burning sand. 

We believe that a little more missionary work, moral 
suasion and square dealing would have a salutary effect in 
our Indian Territory and thereby save powder and ball, 
cutlass and gi'ape shot; and much more, the lives of many 
brave soldiers. 




CHAPTER CXXII. 

JOSEPH BENNETT. 

JOSEPH BENNETT came to Kingsville in 1803, 
and he and a Mr. Harrington, who came about the 
same time, were two of the early settlers of Kings- 
ville Township, O. Mr. Bennett married at quite 
an early age, and when Zalmon Bennett, his eldest son 
(former husband of Mrs. Merritt, who now lives on the 
old homestead), was a child ten months old, an old Indian 
was discovered to be lurking around the neighborhood 
and who managed to call at the dwellings of Bennett and 
Harrington when the men were not about the house. The 
audacity and demands of this old Indian in ordering meals, 
etc., had become oppressive and unbearable. One day he 
called at Bennett's house and took the young child Zalmon 
by the hair of the head with one hand and drew his hunting 
knife with the other and brandished it over the child's head, 
indicative of the manner of scalping it. Mrs. Bennett was 
horrified at the sight, and with womanly wit ran to the door 
and exclaimed, ''Mr. Bennett is coming," and the Indian 
lied from the house. Soon afterwards Mr. Bennett and Mr. 
Harrington took their rifles and went out huntins:, and 
when near Panther Creek they esi)ied the old Indian cross- 
ing the stream on a log. Soon after the Indian's body was 
found under the log with two bullet holes through it. Mr. 
Bennett said that probal)ly the old Indian fell on that log 
and stuck a couple of knot holes through him. 



CHAPTER CXXIII. 




INDIAN CHIEFS. 

jjg^MONG the number of Indian chiefs first 
known l)y the early settlers of Western 
Pennsylvania were Half Town, Logan, 
Stinking Fish, Cheat, Twenty Canoes, 
Laughing Thief and Surly Bear. These 
chiefs, with their tribes, roamed about 
the Allegheny and Venango Rivers, and 
the sites of Franklin and Meadville -were their headquarters 
for many years. Later, other prominent chiefs were con- 
spicuous in l)attle — Tecumseh, Pocahontas, Black HaAvk 
and others, in difterent parts of the country. 

The Indian, however, still seems to be very tenacious 
and venerati^'e in i)reserving their dandy names for their 
leaders, which, no doubt, have an ideal meaning, 

Which, if we had an idea of their ''whim," 
We might uuderstaiid their j^ynonym. 

Among the names of Sioux chiefs who recently went 
to talk with President Harrison at Washington, were Young- 
ManAfraid-of-His-Horses, American Horse, Little Wound, 
Big Road, Si)ott(Hl Elk, Fast Thunder, Spotted Horse, Fire 
Lightning and He Dog. The hostih' Brules were rej)iest'nted 
by Two Strike, High Pipe and High Hawk. He Dog was 
the special representative of Red Cloud. Big Road Avas 
third in command at the Custer massnere. 

They recently had a liattle, and many of their numl)er 
fell, including w(mien who win'c shamefully slain at the 
Pine Ridge onslaught, with a comparative!}- light loss of 
the regular government troops. 




CHAPTER CXXIV. 

CLEVELAND. 

LEVELAND is situated about midway on 
the southern coast of Lake Erie, and is per- 
haps more akin to Chicago than any other 
city in America, in its rapid growtli to a city 
of 250,000 inhabitants, and of its great 

commercial importance, and comprising all kinds of large, 

extensive manufactories. 

Cleveland and Chicago — the greatest cities on the great 
chain of lakes, though much younger than Buffalo and 
Detroit. And we predict that Chicago is to be the second 
city of our Union, and that Cleveland will be about the 
sixth city in size. 

Chicago is situated at the head of Lake Michigan, and 
is the headquarters of the Great West, which will naturally 
boom her on, and forever give her an impetus that neither 
New Englanders or New Yorkers can manipulate. 

Cleveland, the beautiful Forest City, is already a large 
city of great commerce, and comprises the elements to con- 
tinue to hold her own in the great Ameiican strides for 
supremacy. 

Time changes all things, and especially Ihe growth 
of many of our American cities. In 1840 the writer, 
accompanied by his mother and cousin, R. H. Sargent, 
a 3'oung lad a couple of years older than himself, started 
for Cleveland to visit relatives. Two days was the time 



426 * PIONEER SKETCHES. 

required to make the journey with horse and buggy 
from Spring, Crawford County, Pa., to Cleveland. We 
enjoyed our journey much, and everything went smoothly 
until we reached the old float bridge that crossed the Cuya- 
hoga River, when as the wheels struck the bridge from the 
edge of the bank a sudden drop down broke the fore axle- 
tree of the buggy, leaving us in a bad predicament, as the 
roadway of the bridge lay several inches under water. 
There were side planks on each side of the l)ridge for 
pedestrians to walk on. The river was full of Vessels, and 
some gallant sailors came to our rescue with ropes and 
scanthng and lashed up and stayed the broken axletree. 
We then pursued our journey on foot to the top of the hill 
to the residence of Albert Powell, the manufactarer of axes 
and edge tools on the Island, whose residence was our des- 
tination. 

The west side, then called Ohio Cit}-, was a small 
village. Pearl, Kentucky, Franklin and Detroit Streets 
were then commons. The cows with their ding dong bells 
on were everywhere grazing with impunity, with full 
stomachs from the succulent grasses of Ohio City. 

The young nimrod was out with fowling piece, shoot- 
ing away at the English l)lack I)irds in the trees and at the 
rabbits in the thicket of under])rush, and the lady of the 
house would say at evening, "Come, boys, it's time noAV to 
drive "up the cows from the commons,'' where now stands 
the great city of Cleveland, west side. The Ohio Exchange 
and A. Powell's axe and edge tool shop were the two prin- 
cipal buildings then on the west side flats, and a few stores 
and a com[)aratively small business done upon the west side 
hill. To-day there is great change. Cleveland, east side, 
was larger, but only a village of a few thousand inhabitants 



PIONEER SKETCHES \Tl 

and only one old float liridge on which to cross and 
re-cross the river from the east to west side at same point, 
over which is now constructed the magnificent viaduct, 
costing several millions of dollars. 

Many other nice iron bridges span the Cuyahoga at 
difierent points above and below the viaduct and the site of 
the old lone float bridge. The changes and improvements 
that one would notice since 1840 up and down the river, its 
hillsides and valleys, and everywhere for miles around, on 
the west side to Rocky River, and on the east side out to 
Lake View Park, are most grand and wonderful to behold, 
demonstrating that the Clevelander is bound at any rate to 
have the finest city in the State, populated by the New 
Englander and the Old Englander, the Jew and the Gentile, 
the Teuton and the Hil)ernian, and most all natives of the 
globe, pegging away, pursuing all the trades and represent- 
ing nearly all kinds of manufacturing. Therefore, I see 
nothing to retard the steady growth of Cleveland. 

Cleveland and Chicago alike have the consolation of 
knowing that, when they can get no more nice farms to cut 
into lots on which to build, they can drive pegs out in the 
lake and build thereon and have plenty of drinking and bath 
water, duck and goose ponds. 

A drive up Superior Street and out Euclid Avenue to 
Lake View, tells the visitor and impresses the stranger 
that there is something there — wealth and grantleur. 

We have not the time nor space herein to attempt a 
description of Cleveland, its early settlers, its prominent 
business enterprises, etc. Saflice it to say that Cleveland 
is full of promises and destined to a great future, with few 
superiors and few equals on the Continent. 



CHAPTER CXXV 



YOUNGSTOWN. 




OUNGSTOWN is located in Mahoning 
County, Ohio, on the Mahoning River, 
and is beautifully situated on its Hats and 
hillsides, containing a population of 
40,000 inhabitants. It is the busiest and 
loveliest town in Northeastern Ohio, and 
more men get into line in the bucket brigade than in any 
other city of its size in the State. Its iron plants are the 
largest and manufacture more iron than any other city in 
Ohio. This we may look for when its citizens are among 
the progressive and wide-awake class, losing no oppor- 
tunity to foster and advance the business interests of their 
viijorous and iirowins; city. 

We think Youngstown will continue to grow and pros- 
per, notwithstanding it is claimed that the iron interests of 
the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys will be materially 
weakeiunl by the growing iron business of Tennessee and 
Alabama, there being concentrated all the material for its 
manufacture. 

The great iron and coal fields of Virginia, Tennessee 
and Alabama having lain dormtmt through the period of 
slavery, soon after the War of the Rebi'llion northern capi- 
tal and manufacturers began to look soutiiward for invest- 
ment, and now in the line of iron making Greek meets 
Greek. But wiiile the iron manufacturer of the south has 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 429 

his material concentrated, the northern manufacturer as 
yet turns out the best quality of iron; while Vanderbilt & 
Co. have recently purchased several million dollars' worth 
of iron lands in the Lake Superior region, from which they 
can mine in a future day, if necessary, to ship on to their 
immense dockage which they are at present engaged in 
building at Ashtabula Harl)or, thence to be re-shipped over 
their southern branch of the Lake Shore Railroad to the 
iron mills of the Mahoning, Shenango and Allegheny 
Valleys. 

The other railway king, Jay Gould, having recently 
bought the Baltimore & Oliio and the Pittsburg & Fairport 
Railways, he, too, maj^ M^ater his iron horses in Lake Erie, 
and we apprehend that he will gobble a few million dollars of 
iron-ore lands in the northwest as a future feeder for his 
recent railway jiurchase, which also runs down the Mahon- 
ing and Shenango Valley iron mill region. With the 
immense outlay of capital invested in iron plants in 
Youngstown and vicinity, its operators may feel sure, 
while they manufacture a superior grade of iron, that they 
can light their fires with good results for at least the coming 
decade. The growing demands for iron, the increasing 
facilities for transporting the raw material, augurs well for 
Youngstown, enabling her to surmount adverse seasons or 
periods of panic, and continue to grow and thrive for time 
to come. 



I'f, 'I 



V-' 



4''' ' 



>\ 




CURTIS GODDAKU, ASHTABULA, O. 




CHAPTER CXXVI. 

CURTIS GODDARD. 
BIRTH — BOYHOOD — MANUFACTURER— REMOVAL TO ASHTABUI^A. 

URTIS GODDARD was born in Granby, Con- 
necticut, July 22, 1823, While in liis infancy 
his parents, Joab and Martha Goddard, removed 
to the Western Reserve, Ohio, then called the Far West, 
and settled in Winsor, Ashtabula County. This journey 
was made with an ox team, which took 20 days, and 
was said to be the quickest time on record (from Connecticut 
to Ohio) made by horned horses. The family remained in 
Winsor about one year and removed to Deerlield, Portage 
County; lived there five years, then removed to Edden- 
burg, same county, where he lived his boyhood and 
youthful days, starting in the woods living a pioneer life. 

Presently young Goddard began to develop his New 
England Yankee inventive proclivities, not in wooden clocks 
nor nutmegs, but in bed rail knobs, clothes pins and such, 
when at length he got out an improved corn sheller, of 
which he manufactured and sold many thousands at 
Alliance, Ohio, and it proved a lucrative venture. About 
a year ago he revolved into the Revolving Book and Show 
Case business and revolved around to Ashtabula, where he 
has fitted up the spacious bolt and shaft works, he hav- 
ing purchased this valuable property, also the Ellis property 
on West Street, preparatory to manufacturing revolving 
book and show cases. 



432 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 



About these show cases, need not take you long to solve. 
For you'll see they are useful beauties as they revolve; 
And will readily sell most everywhere, 
Being more useful and nicer than the revolving chair. 

So send along your order, which will be promptly filled. 
Made from best material, by workmen skilled; 
Or call into my office. No. 7, Ann Street, 
And examine goods and prices, hard to beat. 




CHAPTER CXXVII. 




THE PRIVATIOXS OF EARLY SETTLERS. 

HE PRIVATIONS of the early 
settlers Avere on every liMiid. As 
late as 1825-30 grist mills were 
scarce, and none Imt water mills. 
In Crawford County the Powers 
mill at Powerstown and one at 
Venango, ten miles above Mead- 
ville on French Creek, were the 
only mills within a distance of 
eighteen miles. There came a 
drouth, and no grists could be 
ground at the Powers mill. At the old block house on 
the hill, in Spring township, in which resided the family of 
Capt, Phineas Sargent, it was discovered that a fresh sup- 
ply of bread timber was required. The grist mill at Ve- 
nango or the one at Conneaut, Ohio, must be visited. 

The road to the former was not as good as was the 
road to the latter place, therefore the grist of corn and 
wheat was loaded on to an ox team wagon, and Avith the 
boy Alfred Sargent as teamster, steersman and conductor, 
set out early one morning for Conneaut, Ohio, to get that 
grist ground, expecting to make the trip in two days. A 
part of the way the roadway was of corduroy to hold up 
the ox from sinking out of sight in a blue clay pit or a 
quicksand maelstrom. With good luck on the way out, he 
arrived at Conneaut before night, and found to his dismay 
that there were so many grists ahead of his that no grind- 

28 



434 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

ing could be done for him that week. He, therefore, turned 
about and reached Lexington about midnight, when one of 
the oxen got his foot fast in the corduroy. The ox's fo(^t 
had sli[)ped down over the hoof between the two poles, and 
with the aid of the teamster could not be extricated. He 
slipped ofl' the ox-bow from the animal and moved the other 
to the roadside. He cried out for help, when Medad 
Pomeroy came to his assistance; the corduroy was torn up 
and the ox released, in a very lame condition. The oxen 
were turned into a field of good grass, where for the re- 
mainder of the night they fared as sumptuously as did 
Nebuchadnezzar. Tlie young teamster was invited indoors 
to partake of the hospitalities of the generous pioneer. 

The next day he arrived home with a lame ox which 
had to go to grass for three weeks. The neighbors chipped 
in and secured a team of horses, and with a wagon loaded 
h'e started for Venango, where in a couple of days he got 
the grist gi'ound. 

It was a rule in those days with the people on all 
occasions to aid each other and to confide in each other. 
That was what made them happy and strong. That gave 
us our American Independence. True, the pioneer woman 
could not don her morning dress and at 10 A. M. rehabili- 
tate, and again in the evening; and Mrs. Smith could not 
make her daily rounds in calling on Mrs. Jones, Brown and 
Robinson and chat with that broad affectation and superflu- 
ous emphasis as she does to-day— 

But simply spoke the honest accents of the will; 

And 1 am of the same opinion still, 

That this inmatural conversational strain 

Is calculated to give you a pain. 

Let's away from unnatural affectations stoutly steer 

And cherish the axioms of the Avoman pioneer. 



CHAPTER CXXVIII. 

THE RAILROAD RRAKEMAN. 

N ALL business pursuits eveiy department must have 
its operators. Upon the sea there is the captain, 
mates, steward, engineers, wheelmen, the watchman, 
common sailor and the roustal)out. Upon the rail is the 
engineer, conductor, fireman and the brakeman. But we 
notice through all the dili'erent branches of industry there 
is no occupation so hazardous as the railroad freight brake- 
man, to which the casualities, the maiming for life of many 
of our stalwart young men too often attest. 

As he glides o'er hill and valley through the laud, 

He takes his precious life iu hand; 

At his brakes through sunshine and storm, 

Through blackened night, to the coming morn. 

Through blasting winds, rain iu torrents pour, 

As he hustles over the cars of coal and iron ore; 

His train comes thuuderiug down Plymouth or MunsonHill, 

The engineer whistles loud and shrill. 

One, two, for down brakes, 

Which the brakeman quickly undertakes 

To check the motion of the flyiug train, 

As it goes I'attling down the plane; 

Something is wrong, it is too late, 

The train is running at a fearful rate. 

A link or drawhead broke, his train is in twain. 

But the brakeman at his post remains; 

The danger of the wreck he bravely doth defy. 

To jump from the train is but to die. 

On the P. Y. & A. or the Franklin Branch, 

You would say "might as well chase a western avalanche;" 

A hazardous business, you can only make it, 

Whatever way you please to take it. 

The train is derailed, the cars careen, 
A more heroic act ne'er was seen; 
He jumps from his train as a last resort 
To save his life, at whatever cost. 

Keader if you think that a railroad brakeman, has a 
soft snap just try it once. 




CHAPTER CXXIX. 

THE ASHTABULA STRIKE. 

N THE 8th day of May, 1801, about 
800 dock laborers at Ashtabula Harbor 
went out on a strike, and accordingly 
formed in line of march to demonstrate 
their streno;th and their o-rievance. 

A dozen Italians were at the head 
of the procession as they marched up 
Thayer hill, bearing the American flag, followed by Amer- 
icans, Hibernians, Italians, Swedes, Finlanders, Hollanders, 
Portuguese, Slavonians, Bohemians and Norwegians, they 
marched, with various instruments of music, representing a 
formidal)le body of men. 

It appears that some of the Finns were loth to go out, 
and some of them, after the strike was declared, commenced 
to load some cars with ore, l)ut were promptly stopped by 
the strikers. 

The ore traffic had not opened as early that Spring as 
usual, consequently there were l)ut two boats in })ort to be 
unloaded and be caught in the strike, and as soon as the 
vessel men found that they could not discharge their cargoes, 
sailed for other ports. 

It appears that the demands of the strikers were not 
without just claims for grievance. The year previous dock 
proprietors received from vessel owners 1 S cents per ton 
for uidoading ore from the vessels — and they paitl the dock 
laborers 1<» cents per ton for doing the work of unloading. 
,The engineers, or holsters, were cut from $60 to $55 
per month, and $3.50 })er Sunday or a night. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 437 

The dock laborers got 18 cents per hour Sunday or 
night work, but they were cut to 15 cents per hour for extra 
work and 9 cents per ton for unloading versels. 

Years ago the dock owners had 10 cents a ton from 
the vessel men, and paid the laborers 10 cents, and when 
they got 18 cents per ton they were not willing to advance 
or share it with the laborers or dock men. 

They al^o paid the wall builders and day men $1.75 
per day; they cut them to $1.50 and required 12 hours for 
a day's work. Hence the strike. 

In view of the facts and circumstances precipitating 
the strike, it is not meet to say that the strikers were reckless 
and foolish and in the blame, as it would be unAmerican 
not to contend for right and justice. 

These dock laborers were eno;ao;ed in the hardest kind 
of manual labor, and thereby earning every cent they got. 
When they cut them it struck deep, and they had no other 
weapon to use but to strike in retaliation, with the hope 
thereby to receive a fair adjustment of their grievance. 

The humane American individual is filled with un- 
pleasant forebodings in witnessing a s[)ectacle of this kind. 
In dark England, where, by the hand of iron rule, millions 
of paupers are created, they are eking out a miserable 
existence to-day. Is this sort of epidemic coming across the 
waters to pollute the soil of America? God forbid ! 

In our boasted free land of America, with her broad 
fertile domain, we hope not to see her wheels of commerce 
blocked in every curve and grade, along our great commer- 
cial avenues. 

Strikes are generally ]:)roductive of no good, but are 
pernicious and disastrous generall}^ to the capitalist and the 
laborer. 



438 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Bygone scenes eflected through "strikes" shonlcl afford 
a lesson and a warning to the employer and the employe 
for all time to come "to dodge the strike as you would a 
mad dog." 

The strike having continued over a month and no terms 
of settlement having been accomplished, the agents of the 
ore companies appointed a meeting, which took place at 
the Town Hall, Ashtabula, June 9, 1891. The Lake Shore 
Company made up a train of 1 1 cars, which were packed 
full of brawny hard-handed men. As they marched in pro- 
cession from the Lake Shore Depot it was estimated that 
1,000 men were in the ranks. 

Mr. Mather, of the firm of Pickands & Mather, one of 
the largest ore handling firms, took the platform. He 
expressed his surprise at the action of the men after hearing 
the circumstances, and explained that owing to the low 
price of ore, the cost of handling had to be reduced. The 
vessel-owners had forced the companies to handle the ore 
for two cents per ton less than the year previous. It was 
then 18 cents, and now all they would give was 16. They 
shared the reduction with the men. 

He promised them that as soon as times got better and 
they could get the old price, they would share it with the 
men. He asked them to accept this promise and go to 
work ; if not, he was authorized to say, in behalf of all the 
dock interests, that they would sul)mit the matter to arbi- 
ti'alion, the companies choosing a man, the men another, 
and those two a third, all agreeing to abide by the result, 
the men to go to work })eDding the arbitration. If the men 
refused to accept this offer, the companies would be com- 
pelled, against their wishes, to bring in new men, and fight 
it out on that line. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 439 

Mark Hanna was the next speaker. He said ho could 
answer for all the ore interests on the Pittsburg, Yonngs- 
town & Ashtabula side. He endorsed all that Mr. Mather 
said. He thought there would be no trouble to find arbi- 
trators that would be acceptable to both sides. He urged 
the men to accept the proposition and said the companies 
w^anted to be fair, and above all didn't w^ant to see men 
that worked for them crowded out ; but if they were forced 
to put in neW' men, they would stuy and be protected. He 
urged them to carefully consider before answering, and said 
if the men were not ready to answ^er then they couM answer 
to the agents of the company at the dock offices the next 
morning. 

]\1. H. Taylor, Vice President of the Youghiogheny 
Coal and Ore Company, in substance said the same, after 
which Mr. Hanna said the companies had made all the 
propositions they w^anted to and would retire, leaving the 
meeting in the hands of the men. 

There was some confusion as the ten or tAvelve repre- 
sentatives of the dock companies filed from the hall, a good 
many of the men hissing. One individual repeatedly 
interrupted the speaker, and once Mr. Hanna lost patience 
and said, "I'm not talking to you, sir." 

After the withdrawal of the representatives of the 
companies an engineer stood up and asked the men w^hat 
their answer was. "-It is 10 cents or nothing," with a yell 
that shook the windows, the men unanimously shouted. 
"Ten cents or nothing,'' and so the war was continued. 

For five weeks the business at Ashtabula Harbor was 
paralyzcid, and it is estimated that during this time over 
*t^4,(M>0 of a daily circulating medium was blocked. 

Finally on Saturday, June 1?>, the men notified the 
companies that they W'Ould go to work at 1>^ cents, with a 
promise of a raise when the price of ore advanced, wdiich 
the companies accepted and ordered the men to go to work 
Monday morning, June 15. 

Again the wheels of commerce w^ere set in motion at 
tlie Harbor, the ore and coal traffic became red-hot, and 
thus closed one of the largest, most determined, persistent 
strikes ever experienced on the chain of lakes. 




CHAPTER CXXX. 

CAriTAL AND LABOR. 

HEIr^ECENT strikes at Ashtabula Harbor and 
Cleveland demonstrate that laljor, as well as cap- 
ital, has a market value. While the one cannot 
exist without the other, we are constrained to believe that 
the one is a factor of as much importance as the other, and 
demand an impartial recognition at the hands of the law 
abiding intelligent citizens, and from our legislative bodies 
as well. The hiboring man in European countries had a 
long struggle to ascend to a plane higher than a slave or an 
ox; their price was fixed; they were yoked in or harnessed 
up, and they had to go along. Time, and a greater degree 
of intelligence among the working classes finally wrought 
a change and a labor organization was formed, which the 
reader has long been familiar with its ebb and flow, in 
Europe and later in America. 

Labor has had, for years past and now, a heavy dead 
weight with which to contend: a constant influx of foreign 
emigration; many thousands of foreign laborers }'early, 
bums, thugs, thieves and paupers, are dumped onto our 
American shores. Except of the sober, working element, 
what good are they 'i The records of our almshouses, 
lockups and prisons tell the story. There should be some 
wise legislation, some change of law on this exodus matter, 
or else in a few coming decades America can count her 
paupers, like England, by the millions. 

A higher standard of civility and education must be 
the safeguard of the working man of America. Know 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 441 

thyself; let us cultivate the ))rciin as well as the muscle, 
that we may be able to cope, confer and win respect from 
our employers or superiors. 

Capital must have labor for the advance guard and 
skirmisher, to clear away the thorns and thistles, to plant 
his batteries; then he must have lal)or to man the guns. 
Then let us be cool, temperate and wise, and make our 
position count. Make no unreasona])le demands on capital; 
let your cause for grievance be calmly, firmly and wisely 
presented; when of no avail, resist in like good manner. 

The same canopy floats over our head, 

The same waters roll to bathe our weary feet. 

For a time, if we leave oft' about where we beguu, 
And have uot played the card that won, 
Fellow worker don't be discouraged with your lot, 
For there is always plenty of room at the top. 

Keep your eye on the American guu, 
Look at England and see what she has done; 
Five millions of paupers created in her laud; 
Americans, resist the like on every hand. 




CHAPTER CXXXI. 

DO YOU EVER THINK ? 

O YOU ever think as the hearse drives by, 
That it won't be long till you and I 
Will both ride out in the big plumed hack, 

And we'll never, never, never, ride back ? 
Do you ever think as you strive for gold, 
That a dead man's hand can't a dollar hold; 
AVe may tug and toil and pinch and save. 
And Ave '11 lose it all when we reach the grave ? 
Do you ever think, as you closely clasp 
Your bag of gold with a firmer grasp. 
If the hungry hearts of the world were fed, 
It might bring peace to your dying bed ? 



life's seven stages. 

Only a Baby, 

Kissed and caressed. 

Gently held to a mother's breast. 

Only a Child, 

Toddling alone, 

Brightening now its happy home. 

Only a Boy, 

Trudging to school. 

Governed now by a sterner rule. 

Only a Youth, 

Living in dreams. 

Full of promise life now seems. 

Only a Man, 

Battling with life, 

Shared in now by a loving wife. 

Only a Father, 

Burdened with care. 

Silver threads in dark l)r()\\n hair. 

Only a Gray beard. 

Toddling again. 

Growing old and full of pain. 

Only a Mound, 

Oe'r grown with grass, 

Dreams unrealized---Rest at last. 

Undevwrlter. 




CHAPTER CXXXII. 

EARLY SPORTS AND PASTIMES — THE GRAPE VINE SWING. 

jT WAS on a pleasant Sunday after- 
noon, away back in October, 1822, 
the young people of both sexes com- 
prising thfe Sargents, Sturtevants, 
Powells, Wells and Woodards, sallied 
forth through the w^ood two or three 
miles away to the Anderson lot, an 
old clearing of a few acres, which w^as surrounded by a 
dense forest, w^here they found an abundance of wild grape 
vines three to five inches in diameter towering to the top of 
of the highest forest trees, which all along up its branches 
w^ere loaded w^ith grapes. It was soon after a few sharp 
frost and these wild grapes were delicious. 

After a sumptuous feast of the grapes, the flavor of 
which far surpasses that of the tame grape, they selected 
two of the largest vines, cut off the low^er ends, bored an 
auger hole through them about three feet from the gi'ound 
and securely connected them wdth a good seat, making as 
ffrand a swinsr for a fellow and his girl as ever swune, the 
top of wdiich firmly secured 75 to 100 feet heavenward, 
in the tree tops, interwoven b}^ a thousand chords of viny 
network, safeh^ suspending the long flying trapese in its 
semi-circular movements of 50 to 75 feet, so that it was quite 
necessary for the swingers to embrace the grape vine with 
one arm and their partners with the other. 

First iuto the towering tree tops the boys did climb 
With ease and agility, all in their prime, 
To pluck the wild and luscious grape 
Which the boys and girls freely did partake. 



444 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 




Then into the grape vine swing through s])ace did whirl, 
Beside him sat his rosy-cheek girl; 
To and fro, grandly swinging, 
Happily and merrily singing. 

With one arm around the grape vine he clung, 
The other around his darling as they swung. 
A heaven on earth they experienced there, 
Majestically swinging through mid-air. 

Since the morning of creation 
Never has been invented by any nation 
A swing so grand, so safely entwined, 
As the stately wild grape vine. 




CHAPTER CXXXIII. 

THE BLIND MAN EVERETT. 

HE SUBJECT of this sketch was born in 
Vermont in 1802. Some years later he 
lemoved to Ripley, Chautauqua County, 
N. Y., where he built a grist mill and 
ran the same for some years. Afterwards 
he removed to Summer Hill, Crawford 
County, Pa., and engaged in the manufacture of capstan 
bars. Later he removed to Wells' Mills, Spring To^\^lship, 
and there encased to run a grist mill and saw mill, which 
he attended to most wonderfully, as he had been l^lind ever 
since he was six years old. Mr. Everett raised a family 
of eight children, and died at the age of TO years. 

Mr. Everett was a good cabinetmaker, cooper, mill- 
wright, wood turner and sawyer. On one occasion Alfred 
Sargent, father of the writer, took a nice piece of second- 
growth white ash timber to him to have a neck yoke made. 
Mr Everett examined the timber and pronounced it all 
right, from which he said he would make a good neck yoke, 
and he did ; he turned out a dandy one. 

About this time the Erie & Pittsburg Railroad was 
built and ran by ]Mr Everett's place of business, which was 
at Wells" Grist and SaAv Mills, Spring, CraAvford County, 
Pa., and as the cars stopped at Wells' one dark night a 
couple of ladies peered out of the car windows into the 
darkness. Within 40 feet of them they heard the nnisic of 



446 PIONEER SKETCHES 

an upright saw dancing through the knots of a l)ig hemlock 
"saw-log," and all was as dark as Egypt. The saw is 
through the log ; they hear the clinker of the crowbar ; 
already the saw is set for another inch board ; the water 
gate hoisted, the saw again dances forward 16 feet and 
another board drops, darkness still l)rooding o'er the scene. 
The ladies exclaimed, " What in the world is that ^" "A 
saw mill running away alone in the dark," said the second. 
A gentleman sitting near by said, ' ' No, ladies ; there is a 
sawyer there, the old man Everett, blind as a bat, and he 
saws as good lumber in the dark as if he had a dozen lan- 
terns lighted ; it's all the same to him." The mystery was 
explained. 

Mr. Everett would saw as good lumber as any man ; 
get as much out of a log ; grind yoiu* grist as well ; toll it 
as honestly ; repair the saw or grist mill, make you a secre- 
tary or wardrobe, or a nice bracket or piece of furniture, or 
a nice black walnut casket to lay away a departed soul in 
the tomb, as nicely as any man who had two good eyes 
and wore a pair of double concavo-convex Dutch spectacles. 

Then is not Mr. Martin Everett to be credited with 
performing something quite wonderful and miraculous ? 
This should afford a lesson to mankind of what can be 
accomplished by will power and a thorough cultivation of 
the senses. 




CHAPTER CXXXIV. 

AN INTERESTING CORPSE. 

N THE 28tli of August, 1884, Mr. John H. 
Gately, of Oswego, N. Y., effected an in- 
surance in the Malual Reserve Fund Life 
Association for |2.000. On the 21st of 
July, 189(1, a Ijody was found floating in 
the Erie Canal, near Syracuse, which was taken to the 
morgue, where it ^vas left in the custody of the well known 
undertaker, Mr. John ]McCarthy. Gately, the party insured, 
having previously disappeared, his brother, with other citi- 
zens of Syracuse visited the morgue, and after carefully 
viewing the corpse, positively declared that it was not the 
body of his missing brother. After the usual exhibition of 
the remains they were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, at 
the expense of the municipality. 

Mrs. Gately, who was the beneficiary under the policy 
of insurance, and who in the absence of her husband had 
kept up payment of the premiums thereon, was determined 
that the corpse recovered from the canal was none other 
than the body of her own dear John, with whom, unfortu- 
nately, she had not lived for several years. Bat her nmch- 
mourned-for husband was of more account to her dead than 
alive. She had §2,000 of stock in his cold clay which she 
desired to capture as a balm to her laceratad feelings. So 
she would insist that John's light had gone out in Lighton's 
Lock on the Ene, and that she was a verital^lc widoAV. To 
remove all possible doubt, her husband's relatives arrano-ed 



448 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

that she should go with them to Syracuse where the body 
would be exhumed and all could view it together, 

Mrs. Gately, however, failed to put in an appearance, 
but two days thereafter, accompanied by a Mr. Kennyon, 
she caused the l)ody to l^e raised, and amid tears that welled 
out into a l)lack bordered handkerchief, both she and her 
friend identilied it as the body of her husband. To make 
assurance doubly sure, on the 30th day of July, at the re- 
quest of Mrs. Gately, her son-in-law, Mr. Lyman Mason, 
with Mr. E. W. Kennyon, Mr. Morris Conners and Mr. 
John Keefe, all of Oswego, went over to Syracuse and had 
the body again taken up, wdiich all identified as that of 
John H. Gately, declaring that the marks described by Mrs. 
Gatelji as being marks on her husband's l)ody w^ere found 
on the body buried at Syracuse. The evidence was deemed 
conclusive, at least so far as Mrs. Gately was concerned, and 
she lost no time in forwarding notice of the death of her 
husband to the Association from the funds of w^hich she 
hoped to replenish her exchequer to the extent of the insur- 
ance claimed. The usual Ijlank forms for proof of death 
were immediateh' forwarded for execution, to which Mrs. 
Gately 's attorney responded as follows: 

Law Office 6 and 7 Grant Block, 
Oswego, N. Y., Aug. 9, 1890. 

Mutual Reserve Fund Life Association, Potter Building, 38 
Park Row, Xeic York City: 

Gentlemen: John H. Gately, who was insured under 
your policy of insurance 23254, is dead, as you already know. 
He was drowued in the Erie Canal at Syracuse, N. Y. In 
making up the proofs of his death we canuot furnish you any 
physicians or clergyman's affidavit, nor do I think we can fur- 
nish you with affidavit of undertaker, except on information 
and belief, as the undertaker did not know deceased. There 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 449 

was no iuqiiest held. Will you please send me instructions as 
to what kind of proofs of death will be satisfactory under the 
circumstances, and greatly oblige 

Yours, very respectfully, 
C. ?^. BULGER, Att'y for Beneficiary. 

While this liold game was being played on the part of 
the claimant in order to identify the body of the unknown 
as that of her husband, the officers of the Mutual Reserve 
were rather suspicious that their insured member was still 
meandering around somewhere outside the confines of the 
necropolis. Consequently Mr. E. W. Thomas, the special 
agent of the Association, bethought himself of the propri- 
ety of running up to the city on the lake, with the view of 
ascertaining hc^w matters were. It took him a very short 
time to take in the situation and tumble on to the alleged 
defunct absentee, who had all the time Ijeen quietly rusti- 
cating on a small farm near Sja^acuse, where he had uncon- 
cernedly re 'id the interesting notice of his own demise. An 
excellent photograph of him was taken so as to establish 
his identity should he again take it into his head to disap- 
pear. Mrs. Gately's would-be husband still lives among 
the unknown in Woocllawn Cemetery, but whether the 
quasi widow will renew wifely acquaintance with the 
lamented original John, for whom she had shed a Niao'ara 
of tears, is not yet a matter of history. 



29 




CHAPTER CXXXV. 

A PIONEER MORTGAGE. 

E BOUGHT in 1665 a farm of stumps aud stones, 
His name was God-he-glorified, his surname it was 
Jones, 

He put a mortgage on the farm, and then in conscious pride, 
In twenty years I'll pay it up, said God-be-glorified. 

The mortgage had a hungry maw, that swallowed corn and 

wheat, 
He toiled with patience night and day, to let the monster eat; 
He slowly worked himself to death, and on the calm hillside. 
They laid beyond the monster's reach, God-be-glorified. 

And the farm with its encumbrances of mortgages, stumps and 

stones, 
It fell to young Melchizedeck Paul Adoniram Jones; 
Melchizedeck was a likely youth, a holy, Godly man, 
And he vowed to raise that mortgage, like a noble Puritan. 

And he went forth every morning, to the rugged mountain side, 
And he dug, as dug before him, poor old God-be-glorified; 
He raised pumpkins and potatoes, down the monster's throat to 

pour, 
He gulped them down and smacked his jaws and calmly asked 

for more. 

He worked until his back was bent, until his hair was gray. 
On the hill side through a snow drift, they dug his grave one day. 
His first born son, Eliphalit, had no time to weep and brood, 
For the monster by his doorstep growled perpetually for food. 

He fed him on his garden truck, he stuffed his ribs with hay, 
And fed him eggs and butter, but he would not go away; 
Aud Elii)halit, he staggered with the burden, and then he died, 
Aud slept with old Melchizedeck aud God-be-glorified. 

Then the farm it fell to Thomas, and from Thomas fell to John, 
Then from John to Elezur, but the mortgage still lived on; 
Then it fell to Ralph, Peter, Eli, Absolom and Paul, 
Down through the generations, but the mortgage killed them all. 



CHAPTER CXXXVI. 

THE COURT HOUSE REMOVAL. 

[j^HE removal of the Jefferson Court House to Ashtabula, 
Is now the all absorbing question, surely; 
Last spring the beligerents went to the Columbus Legislature, 
To talk about something of this very nature. 

Ashtabula desired to get a vote of the people, 

To build a new court house with a grand and lofty steeple; 

Their forces were arrayed with very good tact, 

But the "lever"* of the Jeffersouian killed the enabling act. 

And there was wafted in the breezes a singular warning, 
That Jeffersouian lawyers rise early in the morning; 
And before the bill came up for discussion, 
A log roller touched it off with one percussion. 

And when the smoke of that percussion had cleared away, 
'Twas found recorded "killed' ' ( resurrected at some future day) ; 
And the beligerents retired to their quiet homes 
To dream of prospective court houses, sjDires and domes. 

Ashtabula being the largest county in the State, 
And the old court house not large enough at any rate. 
Then came the natural spur, for removal to Ashtabula, 
And there build a court house grand and sj^acious, truly. 

Jefferson thought of its intrepid war horses, Giddings and Wade, 
Whom in their quiet sepulchers they have laid; 
What ! remove the capitol ? whose bell peeled forth its chime 
Oe'r the last sad rites of its heroes requiem. 

Jeffersonians and the commissioners went for the county fund. 

Already grand improvements have begun; 

And the enlarged coui't house will not be inferior 

In grandeur, to many others, on the exterior. 

It might be possible to cut x'Vshtabula County in twain. 
For there is territory enough in her domain 
To make two counties large as Geauga and Lake, 
But this would be unpleasant to undertake. 

And now, please allow me to ask. 

If removing an old county seat is an easy task? 

To move it off its original domain. 

Or improve the same and there let it remain. 



CHAPTER CXXXVII. 

A SAD INCIDENT. 

THE FAEMER-THE TAVERN KEEPER — A FARM CONSUMED BY WHISKY 
— REMOVAL — DOWNFALL AND TRIAL OF A YOUNG GIRL — RELEASE 
— LICENSE TAKEN FROM THE TAVERN KEEPER. 

TPl^ HE FOLLOWING occurred at Meadville, Pa., 
I some years ago: A man who, with his family, 
-^ resided on his farm in Crawford County, became 
addicted to the use of hquor. A tavern near by wtis fre- 
quented ))y the farmer, who in time became an inebriate, 
as also did his wife. Their liquor bills in time consumed 
their farm, and their once happy home passed into the 
hands of the tavern keeper. Then the family repaired to 
an old dilapidated building to live, and soon fell into the 
depths of degradation, living a carousal and dissolute life. 
Mary, their young girl, aged 14 years, became the mother 
of a child and w^as turned out of doors by her unnatural 
parents, with nothing but a blanket to wrap around her 
babe. Thus driven from home, not knowing where to go, 
she went to the tavern kej^t by the landloid who got away 
her father's farm for whisk}', and owed her for husking 
corn. That night, when it w^as time for retiring, the tavern 
keeper made a bed of old clothes in one corner of the bar- 
room on the floor, on which he told Mary that she and her 
child could repose until morning, when he wanted her to 
leave and not come into his house again. That evening a 
gentleman paid this landlord a '^2.i'A) county order wdiich 
she noticed he put into a vest pocket which hung on a nail 
in the wall near her cot, and she thought it would be no 
harm for her to take that order and buy some clothing for 
her child, as he had got away her father's farm and refused 
to pay her for husking corn. When morning came she set 
out for a lady friend's, ten miles away, poorly clad in 
snowy weather. On her way she came to a store w'here 
she stopped and exchanged that order for goods to make 
some clothes for her child. She arrived that day at her 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 453 

friend's house, where she was welcome to stay and make 
the necessary garments for her child. 

When the landlord found she had gone, and the order 
missing, he got out a warrant, armed the constable, and 
hunted down the poor girl like a greyhound does a ral)l)it. 
From the store he tracked her to the house of her friend, 
and there attempted to arrest her. The woman of the 
house told the constal^le that he could not take ber away. 
He got a posse of men and was going to force an entrance 
and cajrture the girl. The brave woman met them at the 
door with a gourd of hot water, saying, "I will scald every 
devil of you if you enter my house; you shall not take 
away the poor girl until she makes some clothes for her 
child, then I will sec that she is at the justice's office.'" 
The constable and posse then went away. 

True to her promise, she went with Mary to the 
justice's; a trial was had and Mary was bound over to 
court; in the absence of bail she was placed in jail to await 
her trial at the next term of court. The time havinii* come 
for her trial, Avith no money or counsel to aid her, the judge 
requested the Hon. A. B. Richmond to defend her. Mr. 
Richmond asked to have a consultation with the girl rela- 
tive to her case, enjoining her to tell him a full histor}' of 
the case. This done, Mr. Richmond was prepared for 
liattle, and manfully fought for his client. When the 
tavern keeper was sworn and giving his evidence, he 
writhed and choked under the sarcasm of the gallant 
Richmond. The jury could do nothing less than to bring 
her in guilty, but recommended the mercy of the court. 
The judge, in his charge, said, "Mary you may go and 
when I want you I will send for you." Mary then asked 
the judge if she could have her child. "'Yes," said the 
judge, "and take good care of it." "I will," said Mary. 
And as she Avas leaving the court room she turned around 
and said, "Judge, will you please tell that man not to sell 
my father and mother any more whisky ?" "I will,'' said 
the judge, and he told the clerk to make out papers for the 
tavern keeper to appear in court and show cause why he 
shoukl not have his license taken from him. 




CHAPTER CXXXVIII. 

NOTED LIFE SWINDLER CAUC4HT. 

RECENT dispatch from Prescott, Arizona, 
says that Under Sheriif Mclnery had lodged 
in jail one of the most noted swindlers in the 
Southwest, James M. Wilson, alias Mathews, 
alias Hollcy, alias Madison. Wilson has made a specialty 
of swindling insurance companies. His first venture was 
in Arkansas, some years ago, when he l)lew up a cottage in 
Avhich he lived. The explosion occurred prematurely and 
as a result he was severely injured and now wears a silver 
plate on the top of his head. His supposed body was. found 
in the wreck and buried by the widow, who recovered the 
amount of his insurance policy. In 1888 he settled in Dona 
Ana County, New Mexico, with his wife, and immediately 
took out a life insurance policy for $8,000 in the New York 
Mutual Insurance Company, and an additional accident 
policy for §10,000. A few months after receiving the 
policies a fishing excursion was organized on the Rio 
Grande and Wilson was reported drowned. A search re- 
sulted in finding his supposed body, which was buried. The 
suspicions of the insurance companies were aroused and an 
investigation was started, when Wilson's wife and other 
confederates became alai-med and fied from the country. 
Large rewards were offered for his arrest, and some of the 
best detectives in the country started in search of him. 

During a recent visit to Jerome, Under Sherift' Mclnery 
identified Wilson there and made the arrest. Wilson admits 
his identity, but asserts that he fell out of the boat into the 
Rio Grande accidentally and floated a long distance down the 
strc^am before reaching the shore. Having previously had 
a quarrel with his wife he thought it would he a good way 
to avenge himself l)y i)reten(ling to have l)een drowned. 
When found he was living in a gulch some distance from 
camp. 



CHAPTER CXXXIX. 

THE SHENANGO KAILROAD. 

HIS ROAD opens up extensive bituminous coal 
fields in Mercer and Butler Counties, Pa., and 
runs a good portion of its way on the old tow 
path of the Erie & Pittsburg Canal and taps the Nickel 
Plate about one mile east of Girard, and affords an easy, 
cheap grade and a good investment for its progenitors, 
Messrs. Dick, Huidckoper & Co., of Meadville, Pa. This 
road will be something of a competitor to the E. & P. Rail- 
road in the coal and passenger traffic, also a great factor to 
the commerce of the beautiful and rich Shenango valley 
for time to come. 

The famous bituminous block coal is found on the east 
and west sides of the Shenango and in the vicinity of the 
Mahoning valleys, Mercer and Law^rence Counties, Pa., 
and Mahoning County, O. The pioneer operators or coal 
producers were: C. G. Carver, Sharon; Messrs. Joy, Fruit, 
Scott & Rankin, Clarksville; Gen. Jas. Pierce, Sharpsville; 
M. C. Trout and others, Middlesex, Pa.; Messrs. Powers, 
Andrews, Hitchcock and others, Youngstown, Hubbard 
and vicinity. 

The section of country contiguous to the Shenango and 
Mahoning valleys has produced some of the best quality 
of bituminous block coal yet mined in America. A coal 
that will bear shipment and sell readily in any market in 
the world; containing but little sulphur, comparatively 
clean to handle, would burn to white ashes and could be 
split, wdth the grain, into flakes or slabs and burn free as 
wood, yet adhesive and would not break up in shipping 
like other brands of coal; hence its commercial value. 
Block coal is not found in such vast quantities as other 
brands of coal, such as is extensively found in Butler 



456 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

County, Pa. There is, however, a fine quality of block 
coal underlyino; the Cox farm, situate al)out eight miles 
northeast of New Castle, Lawrence County, Pa., on the 
Younstown road. A shaft was first sunk by the Cox 
Brothers in a sag or sunken spot on the farm near the south 
side, to a depth of about 12 feet, when a nice vein of l)lock 
coal three feet thick was found, then a strata of fire clay 12 or 
15 inches thick separated the upper from a lower vein al)Out 
three and one half feet thick. Large blocks of excellent 
quality of coal was taken from this shaft. Eastward from 
this shaft the land gradually rose considerably higher, with 
every indication that these veins of coal would continue to 
exist as found at the shaft under the entire 1(>0 acres. 

This property was leased b}^ the writer in 1S61. 
Thereafter C. G. Carver, the pioneer coal operator, of 
Sharon, purchased an interest in said lease and drilling was 
commenced in diflerent places on the farm to depths rang- 
ing from 1:5 to 65 feet. We found the veins of coal to be 
but two to two and one-half feet in thickness and the strata 
of fire clay separating the two coal veins to be from three 
to five feet in thickness. There l)eing two miles of railroad 
to ))uild to transport the coal to the Erie & Pittsburg Canal, 
it was thought best to abandon the enterprise. 

Coal operators and miners are well aware that strange 
freaks exist in block coal fields. xVlr. Carver related an 
incident lie experienced while operating his famous coal 
mine at Sharon in 1840-50. All at once the entry driver 
struck what is called a "horse back," which is a hard sub- 
stance almost impenetral)le; $2,000 was ex})ended in driving 
through this horse l)ack and the coal was found to be of a 
very difierent quality, containing much more sulphur, more 
seamy and would not bear shipment to distant markets. 
Only at the home market could he use it. Thus ended the 
famous Carver Mine. 

Thus it is not in your kaleidoscope, nor in mine, 
Nature's law aud treasures to define; 
And if you will allow uie so to speak, 
There exists in nature many a strange freak. 



CHAPTER CXL. 

THE EOUND-UP. 

^^HE Montana, Kansas and Texas ranchman makes 
c) his yearly round-up, that he may ascertain the 

i^ condition and value of his stock. The merchant 

also makes his yearly round-up, or invoice of his stock. 
The railway, vessel and steamship companies, the telegraph 
and mining companies, the insurance companies, and in 
fact all corporate bodies on the face of the earth, make 
their yearly round-up, that the status of their institution 
may be known, though generally best known to themselves. 

Over four thousand years ago the Lord ccmunan.ded 
Noah to make his round-up and take into the Ark people 
and animals of every living species on earth, that they 
might be spared to start anew, to propagate and replenish 
the earth. Things don't come by chance. Laws inexor- 
able and immutalile as the Rock of Ages, transcend ently 

Come down to yours and mine, 
The hand that made them is divine. 

How magnificent and grand the work ! Not a particle 
of matter lost. The steam, smoke and vapor arises, pass- 
ing off through space, clarifies , and returns to us in other 
forms. Since the creation of the world on great occasions 
the hour comes for the round-up of the day. 

Nineteen centuries ago Jerusalem had become a great 
city. The Jews and their king, Pontius Pilate, saw a 
miraculous Christ, and He must be nailed to the cross. 
Swift justice, through inexoral)le law followed in the hands 



458 FIOXELK SKETCHES. 

of an inscrutable Providence. The round-iip came. "O, 
Jerusalem, "svhcre art thou I " And thence traveling down 
the ages the immutable law seems to have been meted out 
to us without stint or favor, and to man as the instrument 
has been delegated on the lield of relentless strife to make the 
round-up. 

In Young America lirst by George Washington. The 
next great part played in the drama Avas l)y Abraham Lin- 
coln in 1861-5, and the grand round-up by an heroic army 
under the command of General Grant. 

Ah, says one, this cruel war looks to me like anything 
l)ut grandeur. Very true, Ijut when it comes with all its 
horrors upon us, threatening annihilation, and to sever and 
destroy forever our greatest boon — liljerty and unicm — 
then a result like that of our American conflict may well be 
called the grand round-up. 

And now, young man, as you start out in life in any 
honorable pursuit, and there are many in which to engage, 
when upon your journey you will find different roadways 
to take in making your round-up — ])e sure to take the 
straight road and you are bound to make a grand round-up. 



CHAPTER CXLI. 

FOSSIL MINES OF THE WEST. 

"y^^^ ECENTLY there was started for Washington 
^^B W' the most extraordinary procession of ani- 

I "^^ nials ever seen on the face of the earth. In 
\ ^fc this wonderful parade were gigantic reptiles 
<^^^"* Vf as large as good sized houses, some of them 
onehmadred feet in length; flying dragons with a twenty- 
five foot spread of wings; huge birds with teeth; mammals 
two or three times as great in size as elephants; sharks as 
large as the hughest whales; other fishes clad in mighty 
plates of armor, and countless specimens more of equal 
strangeness, and enormous dimensions, such as actually in- 
habited the world before man arrived in it. For nine years 
past the government has been digging up and putting together 
the skeletons of these strange creatures, and now the vast 
collection stored in New Haven, Conn., has been got ready 
for shipment by rail to the national museum. The whole of 
it would occupy one-half of that building. 

The business of digging for these fossils is carried on 
pretty much like any other mining. In various parts of the 
west there are great deposits of them, into which the sci- 
entific enthusiasts eagerly delve for rehcs of ei)ochs thous- 
ands of centuries old. One of these chosen hunting grounds 
is the region between the Rockies and the Wastch Moun- 
tains. Ages ago the upheaval of these hills by the geologi- 
cal action cut ofi" a portion of what had been sea between 
these ranges from the ocean, and the water thus shut away 



460 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

formed many big lakes. A typical one of this sort existed 
in Wyoming and around it the mighty antedeliivian animals 
gathered in herds to crop the succulent vegetation of what 
was then a tropical climate in that region. 

They died natural deaths or became mired in the mud 
when they went to drink, and the sediment slowly deposited 
in the water covered up their bones and i)reserved them 
from decay. This sediment reached a mile in thickness, 
holding between its layers these ancient skeletons distribu- 
ted like currants through a cake. At length the water 
draining off left the land dry, and in the case of the 
Wyoming lake referred to, subsequent floods washed away 
much of the sediment previously deposited, leaving what 
are now called "Bad Lands," picturesque with clitis, peaks 
and columns, carved out in fantastic shapes and of various 
coloring;. Throuijh such a region as this the scientific 
explorer travels with his eyes as wide open for fossils as the 
gold hunter keeps his for the shining metal. If from the 
face of some rocky cliff he chances to see a bone })roject, 
exposed by the action of water that has cut away the hill- 
side, he sets a party of men to quarrying with drill, blast 
and pickaxe until whatever is there in the way of remains 
is taken out. Possibly some great deposit of some pre- 
historic monster may be struck, in which case the find is 
kept as secret as possible, being regarded by the discoverer 
as his private mine. 

Professor O. C. Marsh, who directed the gathering of 
the government collection referred to, has such mines of his 
own all over the west, from which he can draw to order the 
most astonishing variety of gigantic creatures. He made 
the remark recently that there was one small valley 
ho knew of where relics of the ancient monsters were so 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 461 

plentiful that passing through it one day he noticed the 
skeletons of six of those mighty swimming lizards, each 80 
feet in length. 

Usually these amazing fossils are found imbedded in 
rock. After they have been roughly quarried out the sand- 
stone or other matrix enclosing them is carefully chiseled 
away from the bones. The latter are ffivcn a coat of o;lue, 
to keep out the decomposing air, and any that are broken 
or splintered are bound up with twine, after which they are 
packed for shipment. When one of these beasts of antiquity 
died, its carcass being covered with sediment that after- 
wards became stone, the skeleton was apt to be preserved 
entire and with the parts in position all ready for mounting 
in a museum. 

There was a new reptile found in Wyoming the other 
day in such a complete state, which was named the Pronto- 
saur. It was 60 feet long and stood 15 feet high when 
alive, and w^eighed 20 tons. Cfist in the rock from which 
it was taken was a perfect mould of one of its eye-balls, 
with Avhich it looked upon the world 3,000,000 years ago. 
It had a very small head, a long and flexible neck, a short 
body and a huge tail. In the same neighborhood 
has also been discovered recently another monster, 
called the Triceratops, W'hich had an enormous bony frill 
around the back of its neck. This surprising development, 
measuring six feet across, was intended for the attachment 
of great muscles that were necessary in holding ip the 
huge head. The animal, though tremendously massive, W' as 
only thirty feet long, l)ut it was covered with plates of 
armor and had a sharp and horny beak, not to mention a 
horn on its nose and another on its forehead, the latter two 
and one-half feet in length. 



462 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

In Colorado have l)ecn found great deposits of the 
bones of the Tetanosaur, the largest land animal that ever 
existed. They grew to be forty feet long and sixty feet 
high when erect upon their hind legs. Instead of browsing, 
as did the Brontrosaur and Triceratops, npon the luxurious 
and aquatic vegetation around the lake l)orders, they fed 
u)ion the foliage of trees on the mountain sides. Likewise 
did the Inguanadon, several times as heavy as an elephant, 
which had a nipping beak like a turtle"'s, and also walked 
erect, using its huge tail for support, and towering to the 
height of forty or lifty feet. In the Mesozoic epoch, or 
"Age of Reptiles," when the creature described lived, 
these and other herbineferous animals were the largest of 
the beasts. One of these, the Atlantosaur, was 100 feet 
long, its thigh bones measuring eighty feet in length and 
twenty-three inches through. They had various ways of 
pursuing existence. Some went on all fours and had back 
bones that were mere shells filled with warm air from the 
lungs, which served them as boats while they walked in the 
sea shallows in water deep enough to cover their backs, 
extending their long necks to crop vegetation along the 
shore. Of this sort was the Camera- Saures, eighty feet in 
length. Others had enormously long hing legs, on which 
they were able to wade far out into the ocean after sea 
weeds, and were provided with not fewer than 2, 000 teeth 
for grinding their food. Such was the mighty kangaroo- 
like Hadrosaures. Yet other species dwelt on land like the 
Triceratops, and these were usually provided with armor 
and horns for defense against tlu.'ir enemies. 

It would seem as if such monsters as are al)ove de- 
scribed need have feared no living foes, but in fact they 
were connnon i)re\' to great numbers of frightful carniver- 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 463 

ous reptiles smaller in size but of tremendous activity and 
fierceness, which fed upon these unwieldy vegetable eating 
giants. 

Most terrific of all, perhaps, was the incredibly fero- 
cious Laelaps, which were twenty-five feet long, stood forty 
feet high on its hind legs, and was built like a kangaroo. 
It was the most astonishing jumper that ever existed, Avith 
teeth for cutting and sharj) claws on the front feet that were 
evidentlj^ designed for tearing out the eyes of victims or 
adversaries. 

Hardly less formidal)le and equally large was the Ste- 
gossaur, which was sheathed in armor plates from two to 
three feet in width and employed as a . weapon of ofiense 
its powerful tail armed near the end on both sides with 
sharp spikes two feet long. This animal walked erect also, 
and one of its peculiarities was a great enlargement of the 
spinal cord of the lower end of the back. In fact this ex- 
pansion of the brain material intended to provide for the 
wagging of the mighty spiked tail, was ten times as big as 
the brain in the skull itself. 

Equally large and dangerous were the Meyolasaur and 
the Dinosaur. Their jaws were armed with huge sabre-like 
teeth, and they went about on their hind legs looking for 
something to devour. Specimens of all these are included in 
the collection for permanent exhibition at the National Mu- 
seum. Of course they represent Ijut a few of the countless 
species of giant beasts that roamed over the earth in droves 
during this vanished epoch. They w^alked upon land, swam 
the seas, flew through the air, climljed trees, and did every- 
thing the mammals do nowadays. There were many kinds 
of' crocodiles 50 feet from snout to tail, whereas the largest 
ones now are not more than 15 feet. It is supposed that 



464 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

those strange antedeluvian water fowl were wiped out by 
the mighty swimming lizards. 

The turtles attained a length of 20 feet and measured 
seven feet in heio;ht. 

It is not only the age of reptiles, however, that is rep- 
resented by the unparalleled collection described. Before 
that came the epoch of the fishes, when they ran the world 
and had things pretty much to themselves. Of this era 
the government has gathered together a vast quantity of 
fossil relics. The face of the earth did not then look at all 
as it does now. Most of what are now called continents 
had not l)e('n upheaved above the ocean; nearly everywhere 
was sea, with comparatively small land masses elevated out 
of it. The atmosphere was hot, moist, and loaded Avith 
carbonic acid, so as to be unbearable. 

In the ocean swam enormous armored fish, such as the 
tymisthys, which were fifteen feet long and had such tre- 
mendous jaws and teeth and they could have Ijitten a man 
in two as easily as you could a radish. Later on came 
sharks of the fiercest type, which must have been as much 
as seventy feet in length at least. The biggest tooth of a 
man eater to-day is about an inch long, while the teeth of 
the ancient sharks, which are found in enormous numbers, 
measure more than six inche*. 

This was the golden age of the scaly tribe. The great 
reptiles that appeared on the scene in a subsequent epoch 
were wiped out of existence by the great cataclysm M'hich 
upheaved the Rocky Mountains, the Alps and the Hima- 
layas and brought to a close the Mesozoic epoch. Then 
came the age of mammals, at the end of Avliich we are 
now, man being the last arrival on the scene. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 465 

The age of monsters has pretty nearly passed away, 
only a few remaining like the elephant and the whale. 
Small animals ^vith plenty of sense will always survive stu- 
pid giants in the long run, because they require less food 
and know better how to avoid danger. Observe in illustra- 
tion how the doom of extinction has fallen upon the gigan- 
tic mammals which roamed over the earth by myriads only 
so short a time ago, comparatively speaking, as the begin- 
ning of the present era called Cenozoic. There was the Di- 
noceras, which lived in herds about the lakes, as the depos- 
its show, big as an elephant, but in appearance somewhere 
between the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus, with three 
pairs of horns on its head and huge tusks that fitted into 
sheaths in the lower jaw. Others might be mentioned. 

For years the government has been engaged in exca- 
vating their bones, which are now to make part of what is 
destined to be the greatest zoological show on earth, upon 
which, in the near future, at the great Columbian Exposi- 
tion at Chicago, millions of Europeans and Americans will 
saze with astonishment. 



30 



CHAPTEK CXLII. 

BIG SALARIES A^D INSURANCE. 



^jIj^=^HE following list of big salaries paid in New York 
51^ will be interesting. It will be especially inter- 
IJIU esting to those persons w4io arc scratching gravel 
quarterly to get money enough together to pay their big 
premiums in old line insurance companies. 

Chauncy M. Depew, President New York Central Rail- 
road, $75,000; Henry B. Hyde, President Equitable Life 
Assurance Society, $60,000; Richard A. McCurdy, Presi- 
dent Mutual Life Lisurance Company, $60,000; W. H. 
Beers, President New York Life Lisurance Co., $60,000; 
Frederick P. Olcott, President Central Trust Co. , $60,000; 
John A. Stewart, President United States Trust Company, 
$60,000; Richard King, President Union Trust Company. 
$50,000; James W. Alexander, Vice-President Equitable 
Life, $40,000; D. O. Heald, President Home Insurance 
Co., $30,000; John W. Murray, Vice-President German- 
American Insurance Co., $30,000; R. A. Grannis, Vice- 
President Mutual Life Insurance Co. , $30,000; Henry Tuck, 
Vice-President New York Life, $30,000; Gen. Louis Fitz- 
gerald, President Mercantile Trust Co., $30,000; Col.W. M. 
Trenholm, President American Surety Co., $20,000; Presi- 
dent Williams, of the Chemical National Bank, $2o,ooo; 
President Perkins, of the Importers' an<l Traders' B(uik, 
$20,000. 

This list of ' ' high rollers " is confined to New York 
city. Other territory could l)e invaded which would inchide 



PIOiVEEH SKETCHES. 4(}7 

old line insurance men whose salaries will average up well 
with those mentioned. 

These overgrown salaries mean a great deal of hard 
scratching on the part of persons insured to keep their pre- 
miums paid up. Level premium insurance comes high, 
particularly when the level is placed at such a high altitude 
to start with. 

No one professes to lielieve that these high-priced 
insurance men are paid according to services they render 
their respective companies. That is not the fact. There 
are excessive profits in their business, and excessive salaries 
are necessary to absorb them. Old line insurance might 
be very much reduced in cost to the insured if this same 
wanton extravagance did not prevail in every part of it. 
But there is not likely to be any reform in this direction. 
These gentlemen have become too accustomed to sleeping 
on flowery beds of ease. Every officer of the old line insur- 
ance company is a Prince Fortunatus and the public "pays 
the freioiit/* 



CHAPTER CXLIII. 

THE INSURANCE AGENT OF THE FUTURE. 

^¥j VER STOP to consider what the insurance agent 
rti p^ of the future may be?" An insurance agent ad- 

-^ ^ dressed this question to a Broadway merchant 

Avho had declined to take out a policy and at the same time 
mildly intimated that insurance agents were not an unmixed 
blessing. "No," said the merchant, 'T have not considered 
the insurance agent of tlie future, nor the future of the 
insurance agent." "I thoiight not," replied the agent, in 
his blandest manner. ' 'The fact is, the people now on 
earth do not know how fortunate they are in regard to 
insurance agents." "Fortunate in regard to insurance 
agents! how in thunder do you make that out''" "Easy 
enough, " said the gentlemanly agent. ' 'Here I come to 
you to-day to msure your life; you don't want any insur- 
ance and that is the end of it. But observe, if you please, 
the tendency of the times. The insurance business is 
becoming so popular that it is taking on a hundred diftcrent 
phases, and the insurance agent of the future will go 
equipped to write a policy for a hundred diflerent objects. 
If you don't want to insure your life he will tackle you for 
a risk on your growing crops. Refuse that and lie will 
come at you with an accident policy. If you have all the 
accident insurance you can carry, he will fish up some liter- 
ature from another pocket and talk burglar insurance to 
you. If you are willing to carry j^our own risk- on burglars 
he will meet your refusal with an argument that you ought 
to take out a policy against breakage by the servant girl. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 469 

The merchant began to get interested. 

'"Perhaps you don't keep a servant," continued the 
urbane agent. "Very good. We will assume that you keep 
a dog, and the future agent will expect to insure the dog 
against hydrophobia or incarceration in the pound. Allow- 
ing that hydrophobia has no terrors for you, the agent 
will ofler to insure the dog against fleas.'- 

The merchant looked skeptical. 

"True, every word of it,"* went on the polite and cour- 
teous agent, "and the insurance man of the future will do 
more than that; he will l>e prepared to ofler you indemnity 
for dog bites, cat bites, snake bites, the bite of bugs, in- 
sects or the sting of bees; in brief, the insurance agent of 
the future will be a composite fiend, a hydra-headed mon- 
ster; escape him at one point and he will nail you to the 
cross at another, he will be a Niagara of volubility ; a terror 
astride of a tempest; while I am simply a hfe insurance 
agent," and he turned awaj'^ with a sad and injured air. 

"Come back young man,"" said the merchant, kindly, 
"Come back and fill out my apphcation blank for $20, 000, 
and accept my humble apology besides. "" And it was done. 



CHAPTER CXLIV. 




THE AVATERWAY8 — THEIR IMPORTANCE — COMMERCIAL VALUE. 

HE principal natural inland water- 
yvays of North America are the 
great chain of lakes, the Missis- 
sippi, Missouri, Hudson, Ohio, 
Delaware, Cumberland, Tennes- 
see, James, Potomac, Yucon, 
Sacramento, the Columbia and 
the Rio Grand Rivers; the Erie, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wabash, the 
Miami Valley and the Illinois Canals. 

These waterways, diversitied as they arc, coursing 
through and draining a vast area (.f country, and floating 
an immense tonnage are susceptible of a great commercial 
increase. These waterways are a very important factor in 
the commerce of our country, and America owes much of 
her coramercial greatness to these natural waterways. 
Their future worth and usefulness is of incalculable bcnetit. 
First, in these waterways those gigantic railway mono})oly 
rings don't exist. If A or B desire to build vessels to plow 
the lakes or rivers or to run a line of boats on the canal, 
he can do so for the common benetit, to himself and man- 
kind generally. 

Some say the railway is the thing. So it is for pas- 
senger and express traffic generally, but th(> railroad don't 
always give the best dispatch in the shi{)ment of heavy 
goods. For instance, a steamlioat may load iron at Esca- 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 471 

iiaba or Marquette and discharge her load quicker at Lake 
Erie ports than the railway, and with much cheaper trans- 
portation too. Again, A at Chicago wants to ship B 200,- 
000 bushels of wdieat to Buftalo ; 100,000 bushels he ships 
at once on board a steamer, and at the same time he orders 
a train of 200 cars in which to ship the other 100,000 
bushels. Before these cars are placed at the elevators and 
loaded the steamer is loaded and made a good leg toward 
Buflalo and beats the train, and at a cheaper rate of freight, 
too. In transportation, like anything else, we can't get all 
the best things embodied in one system. Hence, our great 
waterways are fully as essential as our great railways. 

And now I will mention two important connections 
that should be made, which I verily believe will be at no 
distant day, viz. : A ship canal from Erie to the Ohio 
River. Also an outlet, by ship canal, from Chicago to the 
Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and the Gulf of Mexico. 
The growing business of our country soon will demand 
that these waterway connections be made. Chicago, the 
great central city, soon will desire to load ships at her 
wharves for Europe on a larger scale than it has been wont" 
to do via the Welland Canal through Canada and down 
the St. Lawrence. It will not be satisfied until it has a 
better outlet to the Atlantic and to the great sea ports of 
the world, by water the cheapest line of transportation. 

We hope to live to attend the World's Fair at the 
Garden City (a couple years hence) when we shall expect 
to see New Yorkers and foreigners alike wonder at Chicago's 
marvelous growth, and to notice that her parks are as grand, 
her hotels as spacious, her business blocks as large and high 
and her future prospects as promising as any cit}' on the 
globe. 



472 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Greeley said "Young man, go west," and he did go 
west, and that's what's the matter; the great prohfic west 
is full of the best young men of our land, with good ])one 
and sinew, pluck, energy and money, with plenty of room 
to operate, a healthy atmosphere to breath, among an 
intelligent and wide awake people, centrally located with 
Chicago for their headquarters. Give her a ship canal and 
Chicago will boom the boomers and thus not long remain 
the second city of the continent. 

A ship canal from Lake Erie to the River Ohio 
Would suit the Buckeye and Pennymite I kuow; 
However such improvement to he made I think probable, 
But it will be from Chicago to the Mississipj^i River, 

Chicago, soon to be the greatest city in our laud, 
The great fertile west centering in from every hand, 
Booming Chicago until she will demand 
An outlet for her shipping to Dixie's Land. 

Chicago, the chosen site for the great World's Fair, 
Where will congregate Johnny Bull and lion in his lair, 
Asiatic, Turk, the Hindoo and the Russian bear, 
French, Germans, Chinese, Japs and all creation will be 
there. 

And when the people of all creation come together 
A scene to be remembered hiter and forever. 
That Chicago's facilities were fully adequate 
To feed the world and feather her nest at any rate. 

THE SHir CANAL SURA'EVS. 

The vast, increasing amount in heavy connnodities to 
be transported, iron, coal, lumber and agricultural i)roducts, 
naturally calls for a ship canal from Chicago to the Missis- 
sippi River, and from Lake Erie to the Ohio River. 

It has been demonstrated in France and in New York 
that railroad competition cannot destroy the utility of large 
canals. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 473 

Again, it has been demonstrated that it is not best for 
any corporation or combined systems to control the com- 
mercial traffic of America than it is best for any political or 
religious faction to hold the reins of our government forever. 

Referring to the regions of the interior embraced in 
the basin of the Mississippi, there are few localities where 
ship canals are feasible, and fewer still where there is a 
sufficient traffic of the kind usually transported on canals to 
warrant their construction. A careful study of the divid- 
ing region separating the waters of the Mississippi and the 
great lakes will disclose the fact that there are l)ut two 
points where the natural conditions are favoral^le for the 
construction of large canals. One of these points is at 
Chicago, where it is comparatively easy work to make a 
canal draining the waters of Lake Michigan into the Illinois 
River. 

From the town of Hennepin, on the Illinois, l)y a 
series of locks of about 250 feet aggregate lift, it is possible 
to cross from the Illinois to the Mississippi at Rock Island; 
this is the Hennepin Canal proper, or annex of the Illinois 
and Lake Michigan Canal project. Its advocates propose a 
steamboat, rather than a ship, canal, for it would be not to 
exceed nine feet in depth, although quite wide and of 
almost unlimited business capacity. Its western connections 
would be the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and it is 
thought that steamboats would annually gather up in the 
Northwest and take to Chicago 2,000,000 tons of agricul- 
tural produce. A great extent of the country at the 
western extremity of the canal Avould have to be gleaned 
to produce such a traffic. Congress has already made the 
first appropriation for this project. 



474 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

The other point where it is possible to obtain practi- 
cally an unlimited water supply, for canals connecting the 
lakes and our interior rivers, is the one now in the hands of 
the Pennsylvania Ship Canal Commission, whose report has 
been recently made and ordered to be printed by the Legis- 
lature, with maps. The length of the proposed canal is 
only 130.4 miles from Pittsburg to Conneaut Harl)or, on 
Lake Erie. It has l^een pro)iosed heretofore to enlarge the 
Miami Canal from Cincinnati to Toledo, and also via the 
Wabash River to Toledo, and surveys of both routes were 
authorized by Act of Congress in 1880 of the size of 
the Erie Canal of New York, viz. : seven feet in depth 
with double locks 110 feet by 18 feet. The estimated 
cost of the Wabash Canal enlargement from Toledo to 
Lafayette City, Ind., 216 miles, was ,^24,236,135.17. 
There were fifty-four locks with a total lockage of 448 feet, 
but as Lafayette is just about 200 feet above the Ohio at 
the mouth of the Wabash, and fully 250 miles distant, at 
least twenty-live locks and dams would have been required 
to extend a permanent seven foot navigation to the Ohio, 
which would have brought the total cost to at least $35,- 
000,000. The length of the Wabash route is fully 400 
miles longer than the Beaver-Conneaut route between the 
Lake and the Ohio River. 

It is not conceivable that a ship canal in such an indi- 
rect route would prove of any l)ut local advantage. The 
principal articles of Ohio River connnerce in great demand 
on the lakes are coke and coal, and this route leaves the 
river too low down to ])e of much benefit to such commodi- 
ties, and but little iron ore trade would be expected in re- 
turn. 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 475 

ANOTHER LAKE OUTLET. 

The other route from Toledo was via the Miami River 
to Cincinnati, for the same sized canal with double locks. 
The elevation of its summit above Lake Erie is 370 feet; 
descent from the summit to the Ohio 512 feet; total aggre- 
gate lockage 882 feet. The estimated cost was $28,557,- 
173; its length 238 miles. This is probably as large a canal 
as ever will be built to the lake from Cincinnati. Other 
small canals have been proposed from Portsmouth to Lorain 
Harbor, a distance of 27'4 miles. The Ohio Canal from 
Portsmouth to Cleveland, 312 miles, is still in operation. 
On the Lorain route, or cut off, the lockage would have 
been about 1,069 feet, while on the Cleveland route it is 
about 1,130 feet, as compared with 750. 8 feet on the Beaver 
route, which route is considerably less than half that of any 
of those named, and, besides, it possesses advantages in re- 
gard to water supply possessed by no other, save that from 
Chicago, while so far as prospective lousiness is concerned, no 
rival project in the country can be compared with it. 

There remains a possible rival to the Beaver-Conneaut 
route. We refer now to the route fi-om the Beaver River 
below New Castle via. the Mahoning River and Warren 
Summit to Fairport Harbor, on Lake Erie. The report of 
the Pennsylvania Ship Canal Commission discusses its 
merits, and although the summit, near Warren, is about 
eighty feet lower than that on the adopted route, the canal 
would l)e from twelve to fifteen miles longer than the 
latter. The chief objection urged against it is the difficulty 
of supplying its summit level in volume sufficient for a ship 
canal by means of feeders or conduits extending from 
within the limits of this State, a distance of thirty-five or 
forty miles from Conneaut Lake, one of the chief reser- 



476 PIONEER SKE 7 CHES. 

voirs proposed for the Beaver-Conneaut route, and from 
which it is distant about twelve miles. To do this on the 
Warren route would eflectually drain the head waters of 
Shenango, which would forbid therefore any branch canal 
from the mouth of the Mahoning up the Shenango to New 
Castle, Sharon and Sharpsville, in which places there are 
now two blast furnaces, numerous rolling mills, etc., 
whereas the Beaver-Shenango-Conneaut route leaves the 
water intact for the supply of a branch canal to Youngs- 
town, and which branch would undoubtedly be built. 

As designed, the canal from Pittsburg to Lake Erie 
will have a bottom width of 100 feet and at the surface 152 
feet, and 15 feet depth of water; locks 300 feet long by 45 
feet wide; the summit level will be 20 miles long. This 
long summit level is one of the characteristic features of 
the project; of itself it would be a very effective reservoir 
in maintaining the equilibrium of depth about the summit. 
The route is nearly on an air line from Pittsburg. The 
distance is 130.1: miles, of Avhich 52 miles, in the Beaver 
and Shenango Rivers, nature has provided, so that onl}' 80 
miles of full canal construction is required. The greater 
part of the excavation can lie accomplished by dredging 
and excavating machines. Thus the Beaver-Shenango-Con- 
neaut route furnishes the shortest route, the longest summit 
level, the best reservoirs, the best natural water supply and 
the business route for coal, coke and iron transportation. 



CHAPTER CXLV. 



LEltUEL COOK — HIS ENCOUNTER WITH INDIANS— THE ARTIST, CHARLES 
H. GODDARD. 



1 



EMUEL COOK removed to York State, where he 
_^ took up a tract of land in the Township of Clar- 
—^^ endon, Orleans County. He was a pioneer and 
a celebrated Indian fighter. He enhsted in the Revolu- 
tionary War at the ago of 17, and served during the war. 
He was the oldest surviving pensioner at his death, which 
occurred at Clarendon in 186<), he having reached his 
107th year. His long and useful career was full of inci- 
dent, backed by indomitable pluck and Herculean strength. 
On one occasion, ^vhile at a tavern, he discovered four 
Indians (in the absence of the landlord) smashing up things 
generally in the bar room, thereby abusing and frightening 
the women occupants. He turned his attention to the red 
skins and laid them sprawling on the lioor, and, lone-handed, 
tied their hair toc^ether in one big knot. 

And dragged 'em out of door upon the green, 
Where these red skins might be seen. 
A job but a few would have undertook, 
But an invincible, like Lemuel Cook. 

In Revolutionary days the white men also wore long 
hair, tied together with a ribbon on the back of tbe head 
and called a cue. One day Mr. Cook was hauling stone 
with a yoke of oxen and a stone boat, and as he was pass- 
ing a thicket of timber something went whizzing past his 
head; dodging his head quickly he found to his dismay 
that he had lost his cue, it being cut off close to his head 



478 PIONEER SKETCHES 

with a hatchet (he supposed) thrown by one of those bar 
room Indians who held a grudge at him. An Indian chief 
named Saucy Nick was suspected, as Mr. Cook afterward 
noticed that when they were to meet upon the road that 
Saucy Nick would turn out of the road into the field or 
wood to evade the gaze and probable chastisement from 
Mr. Cook. 

The descendents of Lemuel Cook are scattered through- 
out the states, many of Avhom are living, some of them in 
Ohio. Mrs. E. C. Goddard, of Unionville, is a grand- 
daughter and Charles H. Goddard, the artist, is a great 
grandson, who, no do.ubt, would surprise the departed 
spirit of his great grand sire to behold him with })encil as 
he draws. 

Charlie Goddard, the young artist, aged nineteen, 
Many years there are between 
The philosopher and the sage. 
Or a ripe old age. 

Now Charlie, as you travel down the road of life, 
Take along with you a happy wife; 
And hope from your children you can draw, 
The finest picture that you ever saw. 



CHAPTER CXLVI. 




AVAR TIME HEROES. 

PRETTY MRS. MASOX— HOW SHE MADE HERSELF USEFUL TO THE 
CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT. 

"ra OME of the most valuable as Avell as 

,,^^_\ courageous secret agents of the South 

1© ) during the war were ladies, possessing, 

32r^ as mai 



many of them did, beauty tinesse, 
the instinctive knowledge of human 
nature that enabled the sex to penetrate 
the weakest point of man's armor, and 
a patriotism that made them proud to 
assume any risk that would benefit their 
cause. Many undertook missions so 
desperate that only their womanhood 
saved them from a short shift when discovered. A case 
in point occurs to me. We had fallen back from Fairfax 
Court House and gone into camp at Centreville. Winter 
was at hand, and smoke curled lazily upward from 10,000 
clay-built chimneys. Every tree had been leveled by the 
soldier's axe; the old turnpikes were lost in a labarynth of 
foot worn paths and fields were only a little while 
before the wind played hide and seek among the growino- 
corn, were as hard as the bed of a billiard table. 

The headquarters of Beauregard were in a farm house 
unpainted and unpretentious, that once had been the home 
of famous Virginia hospitality. But, the boys had gone to 
the war, the old folks had retired to more congenial scenes 
in the interior of the State, and all around were signs of ruin. 



480 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

The plans of General McClellan, whose army was en- 
camped in the Confederate front, his fighting strength and 
the disposition of his forces, together with the new phase 
of public sentiment in the North, that was then beginning 
to take shape, were at that time subjects of grave concern 
to the Southern commander, and it was important to obtain 
more definite information than had been furnished by the 
regular spies. How to get it, however, and through whom, 
were the questions. 

The problem was solved at breakfast one morning by 
a member of Beauregard's stafi": "1 know a lady in the 
neighboring coimty of Loudon who possesses every qualifi- 
cation of a successful secret agent; her name is Mrs. 
Virginia Mason; she is young, fascinating, highly educated, 
a welcome guest in many Washington families and 
acquainted with a large number of Southern people 
who spent their winters in the Capitol before the war. 
Withal she is a widow, her husband having been killed at 
the battle of Manassas, and brave enough to undertake 
anything that will save the country she loves. " 

Beauregard instructed the officer to ride ever to Loudon 
and invite the lady to visit headquarters, and in a day or 
two she appeared. In the interview that followed he told 
her what he required — a report from McClellan's army, its 
condition, the disposition of his forces and the plans dis- 
cussed by the militiny authorities at Washington. For 
this purpose she was to ingratiate herself with prominent 
officers, visit New York and Baltimore, the various depart- 
ments, or any other points where information could be 
procured. She was also to communicate with the represen- 
tatives of the Confederate government in the diflferent cities 
of the North. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 4S1 

The young lady readily accepted the proposition, and 
with an abundance of money started at once on the perilous 
errand, which meant glory if she was successful and prison 
if she failed. She returned after an absence of several 
weeks, crossing the Potomac opposite of Danfries, and 
arrived at the camp of Colonel, now Senator, Wade Hamp- 
ton; thence escorted by one of his officers she was driven 
to headquarters at Centreville. 

I can see her now, as she alighted from the ambulance, 
on the piazza of the little brown farm Jiouse; a young but 
matronly looking lady, handsome, too, with glowing dark 
eyes that looked as if they had fireworks in them. She 
was dressed in black and her only baggage was a small 
hand satchel. She was also accompanied by a shaggy skye 
terrier, a mere armful, that made a soldier who hadn't. seen 
a pretty woman for a month of Sundays, envious. 

What occurred within the doors that closed upon her 
was related to me afterward by General Jordan, then and 
subsequently Beauregard's Adjutant General. Beauregard 
was of course delighted to see her, and, with a woman's 
volubility, she told him more in two hours than he could 
remember in two months. The verbal part of the inter- 
view being ended, he inquired for her papers, the record of 
her trip, and dispatches he expected from Confederates in 
the North. 

"Why, General, I didn't dare bring them on my per- 
son," she replied, with a peculiar smile, "It was unsafe, 
you know; I might have l)een captured, and therefore I 
have told you all I know by word of mouth."" 

Beauregard could not conceal his vexation, and the 
more he showed it the more the little woman seemed to 
enjoy it. Finally, after teasing him to her heart's content, 
31 



482 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

she said, with affected demureness, "General, have you a 
pair of scissors or a knife? IVl hke to use it for a minute/' 
Beauregard handed her an ink eraser. "Come here, Dot,'' 
she called to the dog, and taking him in her lap, continued, 
"I told you, General, it was not safe to carry important 
papers on my person, and I have not done so; in fact I have 
been suspected and searched ; but a woman's wit is some- 
thing superior to a man's judgment; see," she said, with 
coquettish nonchalance, as she turned the little animal on 
its back and deliberately proceeded to rip him open, "here 
are the dispatches." As she spoke she held in one hand 
the hide of her skye terrier, and with the other smilino;!}' 
extended a package of closely written tissue paper, while 
dancing about the floor was a pretty black and tan dog, 
hap})y at his deliverance from another dog's clothes. The 
deception was perfect, and the mission a success. Beaure- 
gard was enabled to anticipate McClellan's movements, and 
the charming spy not only received a handsome reward, 
but was led to the altar after the war as the bride of the 
young officer who sang her praises at Beauregard's break- 
fast table. 

Mrs. Mason afterwards engaged in a number of per- 
ilous enterprises, visiting the North several times, and once 
running the blockade with the late Captain "Bob" Lock- 
wood, so long identified with the New York and Charleston 
line of steamers. Whether she is still alive, I do not know. 




CHAPTER CXLVII. 

OUK COUNTRY — ITS POSSIBILITIES— GOLD AXD SILVER VS. PETROLEUM, 
COAL AND IRON. 

From the vast resources of our country's reveuues we cau raise, 
When we attempt to compute it we are left in astounding maze. 

OLD, SILVER, petroleum, coal and iron, so 
extensivel}^ mined in America, are five of the 
principal factors which contribute to make this 
a great country. Divergent as they are, the former mined 
in the western, the latter principally in the eastern portion 
of our country, which, it seems, was well divined, to pro- 
mote a general prosperity and industry throughout our 
broad land. New fields are constantly being discovered 
and America to-day is, as it were, only in its infancy, in 
the aggregation of its mineral productions. And during 
the next generation I verily believe that people will come 
up and say that Secretary Wm. H. Seward did not make 
so much of a mistake during Lincoln's administration in 
the purchase of Alaska at §5,000,000, then said to be so 
cold and sterile that nothing but a seal and a Norwesfian 
could live. Already discoveries there up the Ukon River 
attest quite diflerently. 

Many a spot once thought to be so bleak and barren, 
When its rugged sides and hills are tapped wealth is 

found therein; 
Neither you nor I, nor the prophetic seer, 
Can approximate America's growth for a future year. 

Our North American continent stretches from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Gulf of Mexico to 



484 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

the Behring Sea, with its vast domain of its undeveloped 

country. And when we contemphite the wonderful strides 

of progress, improvements and wealth during the past half 

century, our maritime relations on the sea, our friendly 

commercial intercourse with all nations of the globe, we 

can only predict a great future before us, and exclaim with 

the poet — 

America, 'tis of thee I siug, 
Sweet laud of liberty. 

This has been too often attested by the great influx of 
people from all nations to our shores, who saw the declara- 
tion of our forefathers, engrafted in our American Consti- 
tution, that all men were created free and equal, and here 
they could enjoy the privilege of possessing some portion 
of God's green earth, on wdiich the sire for his family could 
earn a comfortable subsistence. 

The avenues to wealth lead out in all directions to the 
industrious, frugal and temperate citizen of America. The 
English farmer, gardener and mechanic ; the German 
farmer, merchant and restaurant keeper; the French and the 
Hibernian in their diversity of occupations, can attest to 
the fact that in America they can ])reath the consolation of 
possibilities stretching out before them to encourage and 
speed them on in an heroic endeavor in the acquisition of a 
fair competency that in declining years will serve to smooth 
the pathway down the journey of life. 

Then when the people of America shall fully realize 
or comprehend the magnificent proportions her young giant 
has assumed, then, as a nation, they will be satisfied that 
America possesses a greater area of arable lands, a greater 
area and diversity of minerals and excellent timber, an 
intelligent people, great genius, indomitable pluck and go- 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 485 

ahcadativeness. Then let us rest easy, and try to behave; 
live down, outgrow all secession elements, that we may 
enjoy a full heritage of a great people, of a vast country, 
full of resources and possibihties. Then let all the people 
of the different nationalties now inhabiting our land pro- 
claim with one accord their loyalty to the land of America, 
which affords them equal rights and a comfortable existence. 



"John," said a New York school teacher, to a boy 
who had come from the west, "you may parse the word 
town." "Town is a noun," said Johnny, "Future tense." 
"Think again," the teacher interrupted, "a noun couldn't 
be in the futiu'e tense." "I don't know about towns here," 
said Johnny, stoutly, "but half the towns out where I 
came from are that way."" 



Bereaved Widow. — "Why, doctor, }'ou have the 
effrontery to charge me $500 for treating my poor, dead 
husband, and he died after all." 

Doctor.— "Well, didn't you collect $25,000 life in- 
suiance?" 




CHAPTER CXLVIII. 

THE FORCES OF NATURE. 

T 18 SAID that the shores of Fi-cance are sinking so 
rapidly that in twenty centuries the French will have 
become entirely submerged. During one 3'ear the 
sun attracts toward the skies and make clouds of fourteen 
feet of the entire sea — oceans everywhere — much of which 
is precipitated as rain on land, and flows l^ack l)y rivers 
into the sea. 

A recent survey has estabhshed the number of glaciers 
in the Alps at 1,255, of which 249 have a length of more 
than four and three-fourths miles. The French Alps con- 
tain 144 glaciers; those of Italy, 78; Switzerland, 471, and 
Austria 462. 

Tables of the density of the atmosphere, calculated 
fi-om telegraphic weather reports, have been found to give 
a better clew to the movements and origin of cyclones than 
the usual method of a comparison of the Isobars and 
Isotherms alone. 

The most recent observations as to the amount of heat 
the earth receives from the sun, show that in clear, pleasant 
weather 63^ per cent reaches the soil; this figure rises in 
October to 41 per cent, and sinks to 28 percent, in January. 



CHAPTER CXLIX. 



AMERICAN CONFLICT. 




HEN brother meets brother ou like iields ot 
Trafalgar, 
^ ^^ Theu comes the mighty tug of war. 
A host of kin and countrymeu their battle axe did wield, 
Ou mauy a hard fought Southern battle field. 

But, ah, the sad requiem at close of battle and roll call, 
The cause and manner which mauy brave men. had to fall. 
Forever should a Christian nation sternly abhor 
The awful scenes of carnage in cruel war. 

The reader is already aware of the causes which pre- 
cipitated our great American conflict, and able historians 
have gone on before to delineate its precipitancy to a finality, 
and we shall only attempt herein to make some allusions 
thereto, and characteristic of the American people. Their 
quick response to the call of their government ; the fiery 
ordeal which they underwent; the financial abyss thereby 
into which they were plunged; the wonderful endurance 
and tenacity of purpose, in coming out of such a struggle 
to minister in healing its gaps and wounds (as far as possi- 
ble) and soon again to take its place in the galaxy of nations 
to shine as the l)riglitest star in the firmament and the 
gi'eatest nation on the globe. 

During the tame administration of James Buchanan, 
1857 to 1861, the South having seceded from the Union, 
and "having the Secretary of War. Secretary of State and 
the Secretary of the Treasury, who were among its prime 



488 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

movers in secession, and manipulators, they liastened to 
take advantage of that political power and abstract the 
funds from the treasury and the armament and munitions 
of war and at once appropriate it to the use of the Southern 
Confederacy, thus leaving the North wholly unprepared for 
war. During her struggles one year later in the act for the 
maintenance of the Union, Messrs. Mason and Slidell, 
who had been sent to England to solicit aid for the Southern 
Confetleracy, were captured by the Trent on the high seas. 
England appeared on the scene and claimed protection for 
these men. The diplomacy which followed between Sec- 
retary Seward and the English Premier on this matter, 
will long be remembered by the loyal people, in the surren- 
der of these men. The North had an elephant on its 
hands which they thought a good deal of, born and bred in 
America, and they proposed to take good care of it, and 
proposed that Johnny Bull might take care of himself, too, 
provided he would stay at home and let the North alone. 

England no doubt wanted to see the South succeed in 
her secession from the Union, and had she taken further 
steps in that direction you would have seen — 

The Green Mountain hoys, also the State of Maine, 
Likewise from California and the Kansau plain. 
From Oregon to Alaskan sealing strand, 
Throughout the Atlantic States to Dixie's land. 

AVhat England thus to claim a beligerent right, 

To array her forces in an ungodly tight, 

Because she had free trade in her eye and cotton for a king, 

No, sir; America would not stand any such a thing. 



CHAPTER CL. 

SPARKS OF HUMOR. 

Would Need Them. — Husband (sroinor to a rich 
uncle's funeral) — "Put a couple of large handkerchiefs into 
my grip, dear; the old gentleman promised to leave me 
$20,000, and I shall want to shed some appropriate tears." 

Wife — "But suppose you find when the will is read 
that he hasn't left you anything?"" 

Husband — "In that case you had lietter put in three." 



Insurance Appreciated. — "How is your daughter 
Sarah gittin' on since she married and moved to Califor- 
nia ? " said the first man from Jay ville. 

"Why, l)less ye, she's. getting on fine; her first husband 
died leaving her $5,000 life insurance, and it wasn't six 
months afore she was tied to another chap that has a policy 
on his life for $10,000, and runs a buz saw. She's a rattler, 
my gal is." 



Jordan L. Mott, the well known iron merchant, and a 
friend w^ere seated at Delmonico's the other night. The 
friend said: "Oh, I should so much like to order a beef- 
steak and onions, but I am afraid to as I am going to call 
on some ladies bye and bye. " 

"Nevermind," said Jordan, "go ahead and order the 
onions. When you get Delmonico's l)ill ifll take your 
breath away." 



490 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Met His Match. — Clerical Gent (to fellow passenger) 
"Have you ever thought that in the midst of life we are in 
death r' 

Fellow Passenger — •'Often.'" 

Clerical Gent — "Have you ever reflected that at any 
moment we may be hurled into eternit}^, and that we ought 
to be prepared for that event ? " 

Fellow Passenger — "I've said so a million times.'"' 

Clerical Gent — "Is it possible that I am talldng to a 
brother clergyman? I judged from your dress'' — 

Fellow Passenger — "I'm a life insurance agent. Just 
let me show you a few figures of insurance at cost." 



On a west side street car— Conductor — "Madam, this 
boy is certainly over five years old, and 1 can't let him ride 
for less than full fare."' 

Passenger — "Well, it is the fault of this car l)eing so 
slow."' 

Conductor — ''I don't know what you mean by that." 

Passenger — Willie was under five when we started, 
))ut I reckon he must be eight or nine now. " 



Sunday School Teacher. — "And when the wicked chil- 
dren continued mocking the good prophet, two she bears 
came out of the mountain, and ate up forty of the wicked 
children. Now boys, what does this lesson teach us?" 

Jimpsey Primrose. — "I know." 

Teacher.— Well Jimpsey i" 

Jimpsey Primrose. — "It teaches us how many chil- 
dren a she bear can hold." 



PIOXEER SKETCHES. 491 

Perseverance in more than one instance has been a 
virtue, and proper pertinacity will l)e rewarded. A secre- 
tary of an insurance company advertised for a canvasser, 
and his test of candidates' fitness as they applied, was to 
tell them to get out of the office that instant, or he would 
kick them out. Several timid young men turned tail and 
left him, with great disgust; but one, more brazen-faced 
than the rest, nothing daunted l^y the threat, coolly sat him- 
self down and said he would not go until his testimonials 
had been read. So he locked the door, put the key in his 
pocket, and handed in his papers. 

''Ah!" said the advertiser, "you'll do, 1 can see. I 
don't want testimonials, your style is enough for me No 
one will ever succeed as an insurance canvasser who will 
be influenced by a threat to be kicked out of any place. " 



Yarslej^ — "Wickwire, we were just discussing the 
(juestion whether married women really do go through 
their husband's pockets; does yours':!" 

Wickwire — ''Of course, I can only give you my own 
experience and that is she don't; when she gets to the bot- 
tom of them she stops." 



She — "Did papa ask yoa about your income C 
He— "Yes." 

She — "And you told him that little fib al)out the large 
salary 'C 

He— "Yes." 

She— "I'm so glad." 

He — "Well I am sorrv. he borrowed five dollars." 



CHAPTER CLI. 




THE OUTLOOK. 

F THE CONDITION of a people and a 
o:overnment, we may reasonably judge of 
the future by the past. The present out- 
look of old countries, Europe and Asia, is 
})lainly visible, and its history easily com- 
})rchended. The present condition of af- 
fairs in England and Ireland is but a repe- 
tition of many similar scenes heretofore 
enacted there. 

The unhealthy dominant grip of kings and emperors 
poisons the body politic, disturbs its equilibrium and pre- 
vents it working in harmony for the realm. This dominant 
spirit dates back to olden times. King Solomon, the great, 
could send a couple of thousand of Jews onto his hills of 
valuable wood to snake down like beasts his valuable tim- 
ber. King Pontius Pilate swung his sceptre over a multi- 
tude, and sent them off to nail Christ upon the cross with 
the same impunity that they would kill a sheep and hang it 
up in the shamble. 

In London to-day there are thousands of people suffer- 
ing and starving, while they notice all around them untold 
wealth. In New York you will notice the lady passing in 
rich attire and bedecked in jewelry and diamonds to the 
value of thousands of dollars; the next moment you may 
notice the poor street sweep begging for a penny and the 
boot black and newsboy singing lustily for a nickel. In 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 493 

yonder mansion sits theCnjesus, Astor, with a daily income 
of $24,000; yonder is the big oil i)rince, Rockafcll(;r, with 
an income of $18,000; there, too, is Vanderbilt, with $15,- 
000 per day; while Jay Gould comes up with $7,000 of a 
daily income. A pretty nice allowance for dress, bread, 
and pin money for their wives and daughters. 

Powerful syndicates are being formed in most all 
branches of ])usiness, and as you travel over the great 
prairies you can ride for miles on the lands of the European 
and the American syndicates, and ere long they may under- 
take to corrall these magnificent prairies and stock them 
with hens and geese and compel them to lay golden eggs 
to enhance their riches, and let the locust, the grasshopper 
and the poor peasantry starve to death. Well now, is it 
not about time that this sort of a circus should come to a 
halt and wipe the sweat from its avaricious brow and cool 
its fevered pulse and greedy gizzard, and consider well 
that ere long they will only occupy about 2xfi or S fec^t of 
God's earth at last, when they give up the ghost. 

Let us look at some of the unhappy conditions of. the 
people. Free trade, the cause of the suffering told of l)y 
General Booth; again the plague spot of free trade, 
England, is un(^overGd and the gaze of the civilized world 
is turned upon scenes of poverty and destitution which can 
be witnessed in but few other lands. The new l)Ook by 
General Booth, in London, bearing the title, "In Darkest 
England," merely corroborates the statements of Kay, 
Mayhew, the Rev. Stopford Brooke and other writers and 
speakers, who have endeavored to describe the terrible con- 
dition of the poor of both town and county of Great 
Britain. 



494 PIONEER SKETCHES 

General Booth presents, as the total number of paupers 
in Great Britian, 3,000,000, or to put it roughly, one-tenth 
of the population. But Mr. Chamberlain says there are 
4,000,000 to 5,000,000 in the realm, a mass of people 
equal to that of the metropolis of London, who lia^e re- 
mained constantly in a state of abject destitution and 
misery. Mr. Isaac Hoyt furnishes an argument showing 
that the whole pauper class of the community is some- 
where near 7,000,000, or one in every five of the popula- 
tion. This exceeds the total reported by government 
officials. 

Free trade is said to be the cause of this wide-spread 
pauperism in Great Britain. Sir Edward Sullivan, Henry 
C. Carey, Stephen Colwell and Robert Ellis Thompson, 
are among the writers who have taken this position. They 
maintain that since the doctrines of Richard Cobden were 
put in practice in every land, in 1849, the people have been 
visited with destruction. Small projn'ietors and minor 
industries are disappearing. The boasted cheapness of 
products does not alleviate the general misery caused by 
the want of employment. In a total population of 35,000,- 
000, only about 1,300,000 have fixed incomes of £100 a 
year, and there are 33,700,000 who depend on some kind 
of labor for their support. With no protection this vast 
mass of peo})le is brought into competition with both con- 
tinental and barbarian lal)or. Free trade demands cheap 
la]x)r, and does not foster tliversified industries or seek to 
furnish employment for the people as does protection. 
Free trade destroyed British agriculture. Before the 
repeal of the Corn Laws, the landed interest ruled the 
country. The agitation for rescinding these laws was 
l)egun by Richard Cobden and other manufacturers in 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 495 

order to obtain cheap food for their workmen and keep at 
the lowest point the natural and necessary rate of ^vages. 

The cotton barons and the iron lords are now in the 
ascendant, and the landed interest is fast going into decay. 
Foreign importations of o;rain are cansins: the land to o-o 
out of cultivation. The small farmer is unable to subsist 
and he is selling his holding to the large proprietor, to be 
used for grazing purposes. 

The eflect on British commerce and industries, as 
shown l^y statistics, reveid the remarkable fact that the 
commerce of protectionist countries has grown more 
rapidly than that of free trade England. Sir Edward 
Sullivan presents in his "Free Trade Buljliles" the follow- 
ing percentages, which are probably gathered from 
Mulhall, showing the proportionate growth of commerce 
in the countries here mentioned, during the period from 
1868 to 1879: In the United States the increase has been 
68 per cent; in Holland, 57; France, 51; Italy, 48; Ger- 
many, 39; British Empire, 21. 

Free trade is undermining the manufacturing interests 
of Great Britain. Norway and Belgium having abundant 
forests and cheap labor, supply England with window 
frames, doors and other carpenter work. The result is that 
the British joiners are compelled to emigrate. The duties 
on silk goods were abolished in 1860 and the silk manufac- 
turers of Macclisfield and Coventry were destroyed. The 
workmen either entered the poor houses or left for foreio-n 
countries. 

The English cotton trade is also suffering from compe- 
tition with Germany and Belgium. 



496 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

"Forty years ago," says Sullivan, "Great Britain pro- 
duced two-thirds of the dry goods of the world ; at present 
she produces barely one-third." The manufacturers of 
Manchester declared not long ago that either lower wages oi 
protection must be had. The lace industry of England has 
been destroyed by admitting the cheaper fabrics of Saxony 
fi-ee of duty, and thousands are starving in Nottingham. 
Free trade has closed every sugar retinery in England, and 
30,000 workmen have been thrown out of employment. 

Much more might lie added on this subject, but suffice 
it to say that we don't want any of it at our American tea 
party. 

While this sad spectacle and state of affairs exist to-day 
in old wealthy dark England they liberally conti-ibute their 
funds and missionaries to enlighten the heathen of India 
and Africa. Would to God that the Indian and the African 
would in turn contribute to the sutferings of the worthy 
millions of willing toilers in darkest England to-day. Reader, 
let us take heed and solenm warning from this outlook, and 
by precept, hope and labor that the same unhappy condi- 
tion may never occur to the workingmen of America. 

We should notice that there is a great difference be- 
tween the strike and the demands of the willing, honest 
toiler, and the anarchist and communist. We have wit- 
nessed the former, and sparks of the latter have already 
appeared on this side of the Atlantic, proving that the 
same element has made its debut and exists amongst us. 

Let us try to remedy this as far as possible by proper 
leiiislation, a more fraternal spirit among capital and labor, 
thereby not extending encouragement — 

To trusts, monopolies and rings, 

For such l)ol<)ng to potentates and kings. 



CHAPTER CLII. 

THE GIANTS. 

TP[^ HETX)MMERCIAL gicants of America are Astor, 
Vanderbilt, Rockafeller and Jay Gould. They 
have moved upon the checkerboard every way 

and have made from $7,000 to $20,000 a day. 

Next they'll rig a purchase and make the sun stand still, 
And try to win the world to gratify their will. 

Jay Gould's daily income is estimated at $7,446; Cor- 
nelius Vanderbilt's at $15,249; John D. Rockafeller's at 
$18,715, and Wm. Waldorf Astor\s at $23,593. These 
giants, with their colossal yearly income, can load a train of 
cars with silver bricks, sufficient to pave the street from 
the Battery to Central Park, or to the cemetery for their 
funeral cortege to pass over, to lay away their departed 
souls in a silver casket in the tomb, but alas, to finally 
occupy no more square feet of God's earth, under the canopy 
of heaven, than will you or I. 

If these magnates keep on in the same ratio, pilino- 
up their millions a score of years, that they have in the 
pa.st decade, it will be hard to compute their accumulations. 
Yet it has not been haphazard affairs, nor a matter of mere 
good luck that has landed these men to the zenith upon 
which they now stand. It has required incessant labor, a 
bold, indomitable will, a shrewdness of action and a brill- 
iant brain to perfect plans by which to accomplish such 
great results. 
32 



498 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

Commodore Vanderl)ilt, when a bo}', worked out l>y 
the month, and finally Avorked his way up to a Commodore 
and the owner of a steamship line across the Atlantic 
and Pacific Oceans, and finally the owner of a vast system 
of railways. 

Jay Gould also started out a poor boy, and has worked 
up and become a railway king. 

John D. Rockafellar has become the oiliest man in 
the Avorld, and controls more of the oil interest than per- 
haps all others combined, hence his vast income. 

William Waldorf Astor has inherited much of his great 
wealth, the foundation of which was laid by his ancestors 
in the Northwestern fur trade and Hudson Bay Company 
and real estate in New York City. 

But if the business of these men was to be wiped out. 
annihilated, especially that of the three former, thousands 
of men would be unemployed, and the wheels of commerce 
would stagger for some time to come. Then we will say to 
the Old World that Gould, Vanderbilt, Rockafeller and 
Astor are the "big quadruple," and duplicate them if you 
can. 



"Young man," said the theatrical manager, "would 
3'ou like to join my company V 
"Any inducements?" 
"Would you try a star part?" 
"Anything but star-vation." 




CHAPTER CLIII. 

WONDERFUL PROGRESS. 

URING the last decade there has been added to 
the Union six new states, 200 new counties, 
20,000 new railway stations, 40,000 new post- 
offices, 68,000 miles of new railway built, 90,000 miles of 
telegi'aph, and a change of population in 100,000 cities, 
towns and villages. The increase in population are many 
millions, the creation of capital immense and millionaires 
and syndicates are many. 

This can be attributed to America more than to any 
other nation on the globe. With this view, facts and re- 
sults, what possibilities lie stretching out to the American 
in coming decades? 

The illustrious Sherman said that when in the field that 
General Grant always done more than was expected of him. 
And so it has been with the American people. The growth 
of population in the last ten years has astonished the world. 
For instance, Chicago during that time has outgrown her 
boots several times, and now her imprints reach nearly 
across Cook County — 

From heel to toe, 

And declares she has just began to grow. 



I 



CHAPTEE CLIV. 

THE MORNING TIME. 

^HE MORNING is the time for all animate and 
inanimate nature to be up and dressed, ready for 
the coming day. 

The moi'uing warbler with enchantiug soug, 

In myriads greet the early moru ; 

Arise and hear from their melodious notes 

Harmonious music from ten tliousand linnet throats. 

Whomsoever else were made 

To hear the morning songster's serenade? 

You and I and all mankind 

Should hear their melody in the morning time. 

Paris may have aided us in etiquette and her fashion school, 
But to become fashion's votary is not the best of rule; 
To merely do as somebody else doth do, 
For instance, in wearing a giper narrow shoe. 

Then, the practice of late hours in toil, 

Late at night, to burn the midnight oil; 

Do as you will, say what you please. 

Daylight's the time for work, night's the time for ease. 

Again, the practice, 8 or 9 a. m. to rise, 

'Tis practice nature's laws defies; 

The bird and fowl teach a lesson to mankind. 

To be happy and rise in the early morning time. 

Young man, if you want to become a stahvart busi- 
ness man, and one who can digest well your Johnny-cake, 
be industrious and rise early. Young Avoman, whether you 
be a domestic or a piano thumper, if you wish to enjoy life, 
rosy cheeks, health and vigor, rise early and hear the song 
of the morning warblers — 

Singing praises for the coming day, 

Which will benefit you in every way; 

That beautiful flower, the morning glory, 

Caps the climax, and tells the story. 






CHAPTER CLV. 

THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER. 

^^HE soldier, sentinel, cavalryman and cannoneer, 
e) all while on duty must be at their posts, but no 
more than must the locomotive engineer. Nor 
is there in any industrial department or branch of service a 
man on whom more really depends than upon the locomo- 
tive engineer. He is frequently the guardian of a whole 
train load of human lives, therefore the importance of his 
being a cool, temperate and brave man, of good judgment 
and quick perception on all emergencies. 

Like the pioneer, he lias to pave the Avay, 
Though disaster frowns at him every day; 
Throughout the country far and near, 
No better nerve than the locomotive engineer. 

He mounts and stands upon his iron horse. 
Pulls the throttle, onward he flies the state across 
Much quicker than anyone would think. 
If he didn't have to stop for his horse to drink. 

Whether his horse is very dry or not 
He has got to speed him on to Conneaut, 
Aud when he pulls into that station 
He kindly offers him his ration. 

The noble horse looks fresh, not a wet hair. 

Therefore there is no use waiting there; 

The engineer mounts his steed and out he pulls for Erie, 

This town to make in fortv minutes, looking fresh and cheery. 



502 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

This uDtiriug horse, ready to ouward go, 

To pull his driver and train on to Buffalo; 

The driver said, "To reach Buffalo in two hours we must, 

And I will fill your nostrils with black diamond dust." 

The black diamond chunks and dust Avere freely given, 
To that black charger, fresh as the first mile driven; 
And he and the engineer went through to Buffalo 
On time, fast as the passengers cared to go. 

As the enemy's column charges the cannoneer, 

Grim death stares in the face the locomotive engineer; 

Dan McGuire and Pap Folsom,at the close of this year, (1876) 

Yes, on the 29th of December, it doth appear. 

These stalwart engineers, at Ashtabula, were to go down; 
McGuire wide opened his throttle and jumped to the ground, 
Pap Folsom, with the Ashtabula bridge, went down 
Aboard of the Columbia, to that fatal icy ground. 

Down that awful chasm his locomotive, Columbia, 
Carried its driver, who is alive to-day; 
But the whole train rush down Avith a fearful ci'ash , 
Soon all was ablaze, with lightning flash. 

Eno;ineer Folsom was taken out of the wreck in a 
helpless condition, with many others, and given the best 
attendance. For his injuries he received from the Lake 
Shore Company $6,000. For further description of this 
horror see "Ashtabula Disaster." 



CHAPTER CLVI. 

COST OF LIFE INSURANCE. 
IXCOME AND EXPENDITURES. 



11 



5-^HE Mutual Reserve Fund Life Association has 



Qj issued a neat brochure under the caption "The 
Fundamental Principles of Life Insurance," 
which is certainly a gem well worth treasuring up by every 
natural premium life agent. It is edited by J. Thompson 
Patterson, who adds force to the arguments he has advanced 
by the assertion, "The author has carefully guarded against 
making a single statement that is not substantiated by 
inchsputable evidence," starting out by saying that "in any 
system of life insurance the insured are the insurers, and 
from them every shilling expended, whether in manage- 
ment or in payment of death claims, must be first collected." 
Then by means of charts produced in colors the premiums 
collected annually per $1,000 by the level premium com- 
panies are compared wdth the actual death rate experience. 
Nor does the comparison by any means sustain the position 
which these companies have assumed in this matter. The 
average premiums collected annually l)y the New York 
Life fi'om 1845 to 1849 are shown to have been $30, while 
the average mortuary cost is shown to have been $11. 
Quite a nice little margin from which to pay an occasional 
dividend. 

The query in this connection, "Is it any wonder that 
the accumulated finids of insurance companies now exceed 
$1,500,000,000?" i« certainly a most pertinent one. The 
history of the New York Life on this subject suggests the 



504 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

manner in which these funds have been accumulated, and 
the depleted purses of those who have created them cor- 
roborate the suggestion. Statistics show that $1,000 could 
be paid to every man, woman and child who dies in this 
country at an annual cost not exceeding $18 per person. 
The necessity, therefore, of charging nearly double this 
amount on the lives of selected adults is not so clear as it 
might l)e. 

The ])ook is replete with other facts and information 
equally as lucid as the above. It is well worth the study of 
every one advocating or interested in insurance, and we 
commend it to the perusal of those who have been taught 
to think the burdensome Legal Reserve a necessary adjunct 
of safe life imderwritinij. 



On another page of the issue is given a l)rief summary 
taken from the New York insurance report for 1891, show- 
ing the assets, liabilities, incomes, expenditures and policy 
record of the various companies reporting to this depart- 
ment. These figures, supposed to represent actual condi- 
tion of those reporting, are of especial value in showing 
the relative cost of insurance. The total income of the 
level premium companies doing business in New York 
State (hn-ing 1890, was $187,424,957.81. There was paid 
out during the year, under the heading "for claims,'"' 
$58,608,614.88, while "cost of management" walked away 
with $89,546,188.22. Thus for every $100 received from 
l)olicy holders, the magnificent sum of $31.20 was paid for 
claims, $21.80 was absorbed by expenses and the balance 
found its way into the rapacious maw of reseiTcs, dividends 
to stockholders, etc. 



PIONEER SKETCHES. 505 

During 1890, the co-oporative associations reporting 
to the New York State Department received from their 
members $33,095,817, and paid out in death claims to ben- 
eficiaries of deceased members $26, 906, 435; expenses 
aggregated $5,231,730, and $1,650,731 was added to 
tlie emergency reserve. By the same l)asis of estimate 
as is employed in the foregoing paragraph, it is learned 
that out of every $100 received $81.28 was used in the 
payment of death claims. The contrast between the 
amounts paid out under the diftercnt systems is quite 
marked, and the reader will here find ample opportunity 
for investigation as to the various elements which are com- 
bined to make up the old line premiums. Thirty-six 
dollars were used for expenses, to $58 for claims, a ratio 
which policy holders, if they knew it, would hardly lie 
inclined to look upon with favor. 

During the year the Old Line Companies issued 285,- 
797 policies, Avhile the Associations issued 336,435. The 
amount of insurance represented by these policies written 
has not been given, but estimating each policy at $2,000, 
the new business will approximate $700,000,000. These 
are big figuers and represent the transactions of a stupend- 
ous system. 



"I never jump at conclusions," said the pastor; "No," 
said an elderly member of his congregation, "I have noticed 
that from your sermons, you reach a conclusion very slowly." 



CHAPTER CLVII. 

THE TELEGRAPH OPERATOR. 

% ^ A HAT A wonderful invention the telegraph. How 
^ V. could we get along without it in tliis fast day 
and age of the world? And when contem 
plating its magniticence and usefuhiess we realize that its 
great inventor, Morse, will go down the countless ages in 
history as the great benefactor of his day to all the races 
and the nations on the globe, of the Nineteenth Century. 

■ The telegraph operator, too, must come in 
For his share of the laurels, in the wonderful art; 
AVheu you have news of great import to impart, 
Don't you see how much there is at stake, 
Should the operator make a mistake. 

There must be no guess work with the operator, 
He must be expert, a correct manipulator; 
Strange, it is, with such means for a translator, 
Nothing equals since the day of our Creator. 

The operator has learned the art of making lightning tame. 
Beside his machine, whether he be blithe or lame, 
He there transmits messages of great import, 
Correctly to the remotest parts of earth. 



CHAPTER CLVIIl. 

THE HAIRY CHICKEN. 

TT y^ HE owner of this peculiar chicken, Eliza Hum- 
I phrej, who is well known to the Ashtaliulian for 
-^^- her excentricity, living as she did on an island on. 
the tiats of Ashtabula River known as Eliza's Island, about 
a mile from its mouth, in her little cabin, with her chicks 
and her white cattle, (goats) and dog for company. Occa- 
sionally lads from town and now and then a fisherman 
would visit her abode out of curiosity. 

In time of a flood or a big 'rise in the river Eliza would 
climb a tree with some provisions, and defiantly sit perched 
upon it until the waters subsided. 

Occasionally she attended the county fair with her 
white male cattle, but her late curiosity, the hairy chicken, 
capped the climax. While up town the other day she 
informed some of the inquisitive young men that she had a 
curiosity. "What is it ?" they asked. She replied, 'A 
chicken with hair on." These curious young men, anxious 
to see such a strange freak, called at her place, about a 
mile away, on the East Side, to see the hairy chicken. 

Eliza informed them that she could not "raise and ex- 
hibit curiosities for nothing," and that they must put up 50 
cents for the sight. The gallant young men were not going 
to be outdone. They had started out to see the elephant, 
and were going to see it anyhow, and up went the money. 
Whereupon they w^ere escorted to the chicken coop and out 
came a chicken, nicely feathered — 



508 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

And they couldn't see a bit of hair; 
The boys came right away from there, 
Feeling relieved and somewhat the wiser 
From their little experience with Miss Eliza, 



Truman Martiiidale, who lived on the county line, 
Crawford County, Spring, Pa., was a farmer and shoe- 
maker, and he liked the juice from corn and rye as a daily 
beverage. One day in the fall of 1830, being pretty full 
of corn juice, he was stubbing around on his place near to 
where be had an unfinished well dug about ten feet deep. 
His brother-in-law, Harry Nicholson, warned him to keep 
further away from the well, as he would fall into it. Mar- 
tindale, however, felt his oats, and was going to enjoy his 
liberty that day. Presently he made a lurching reel toward 
the well, and in he went. Nicholson exclaimed, "There, I 
told you you would fall into the well." Martindale — 
"Whose business is it? It's my head and my well." They 
got him out of that well unharmed. Had he been sober he 
would probably have broken a leg or his neck. However, 
I would not advise one to get full to prepare for like mis- 
haps, but would advise you to keep sober and take out an 
accident insurance policy. 



"Hello, Brother Mackley !" Hello, Record !" "Have 
you got that article ready on the Past and Present of the 
Life Insurance Business ?" "Yes." "Where is it?" "Here 
it is. Twenty years ago the applicant got the policy, the 
company the premium, the agent the commission; later the 
ap}ilicant got the policy, the agent the premium and the 
company the commission; now the ap})licant gets the 
policy and the premium and the agent the commission." 
"Well, but what does the company get ?" "Gets left." 



CHAPTER CLIX. 

SPARKS OF HUiVIOR. 

Just as he did at present. — Mrs. Nubbins — "Josiah, 
are you going to get up ?" Mr. Nubbins (yawning) — "Well, 
I have one consolation; I shall have sleep enough when I'm 
dead." Mrs. Nubbins — "Yes, and you'll find the fire lit 
when you awake, just as you do now." 



Cornelius Lovell — "Don't address me as Mr. Lovell, 
Maud, it is so formal, you know; call me Cornelius." 
Miss Maud— "I'd call you Corn— if— " 
Mr. L.— "If what, darling?" 
Miss M. — "If I thought you'd pop." 
Mr. Lovell is now eno^ao-ed. 



Teacher — "What part of speech is "but?" 
Michael — "But is a conjunction." 
Teacher — "Correct ; now give an example of its use." 
Michael — "See the goat but the boy. ' But ' connects 
the goat and the boy." 



Advertising the enterprise — A poor country congrega- 
tion found itself badly in want of hymn books. The 
clergyman applied to a London firm and asked to be 
supplied at the lowest (church) rates. The firm replied that 
on condition that the hymn books contained certain advei- 



510 PIONEER SKETCHES. 

tisements, the congregation could have them for nothing. 
The minister sorro^vf ully comphed, thinking to himself that 
when the advertisements came they could be removed fi'om 
the leaves. The hymn books arrived and they contained 
no interleaved advertisements. At the Thanksgiving service 
the parson gave out the Christmas hymn, and the congre- 
gation sang the first verse. When they reached the last 
line they found that this was what they had been singing — 

Hark the herald angels slug, 
Dash's Pills are just the thing. 
Peace on earth and mercy mild, 
Two for man and one for child. 



Edward Bellamy has earned $16,000 by "Looking 
Backward." This is better than Lofs wife, who only 
earned her salt. 

Mechanic (catching a pickpocket rifling his pockets) — 
"What are you doing there?" 

Pickpocket — "Raising your wages, that's all." 



Dude (posing for a bold l)ad man) — "How docs water 
taste, Miss Belasye V 

Miss B.— "You don't mean to say they've brought you 
up all this time on milk ?" . 



Women do not suft'cr as much now as they used to in 
olden times from contraction of the chest. Just look at the 
size of the Saratoga trunks. 



CHAPTER CLX. 




"now and then. 

N TAILING a retrospect of the past, back to the 
primitive days of the Pioneer of this country, the 
day of wooden clocks; wooden plows and wagons, 
and a woollen factory at every tire-side — whe^e, by 
the hand of the pioneer woman, wool and flax was 
carded, spun and wove into cloth to make garments 
for the family. Cotton cloth was a luxury at seventy-five 
cents a yard, and salt at fifty cents a quart in Ohio and 
Western Pennsylvania. 

There were a dozen wolves for every head of sheep, 
and a half dozen bears for every hog in the land; an enemy 
across the water, to exact from the American pilgrim (a 
Stamp Act) revenue for any kind of business transacted, — 
and Indians lurking in the forest to take the scalp of the 
Pioneer. These were scenes that tried the soul of the heroic 
Pioneer, and finally culminated in a seven year strug- 
gle with their mother country for Liberty and Independ- 
ence. At last, victory having crowned their superhuman 
efibrts, they betook themselves to the different pursuits of 
agricultural and commercial life, preparatory to making 
this a great country. Success and wonderful progress was 
achieved, when a little more than one score years the iron 
hand of the mother country again sought to gmpple Young 
America by the throat. As before, she found her Ameri- 



512 PIOXEER SKETCHES. 

can son plucky and long-winded, and in the course of a 
couple of years she was forced to let go her grip. 

Again the wheels of commerce were set in motion, and 
during those seventy-seven years wondrous results in all 
kinds of improvements have been accomplished, notwith- 
standing those dark days of '61 and '65 threatening a dis- 
memberment of our Union, — she still stands to-day the 
brightest star in the galaxy — the greatest country on the 
globe — none pretending to be its equal or its peer. 

In view of this we can truly say, by the fruit we shall 
know the tree. The American tree was planted in a pro- 
lific, virgin soil, and became fii-mly rooted, not to be up- 
turned by adverse winds, nor cut down by ruthless hands, 
or to be baptized in a living hell, but in a healthy, living 
stream which will flow onward as long as time and nation- 
alities doth last. 

This was a decree and the benediction of those heroic 
sires of Bunker Hill, Trenton and Valley Forge, when 
famished and shivering, fi-om dire necessities of life, bare- 
footed and bleeding, they held the fort and vanquished the 
enemy. 

They were imbued in the principle to render due re- 
spect to all nations, but to fear none. The noble bone and 
sinew and principle of those Pioneer men and women of 
America have moulded a country' and a people who have 
come to stay — who court no smiles nor heed no frowns — 

"AVho must be recognized in the throng, 

Already are sixty millions strong. 

Let us cherish in our memories ever dear, 

The heroic struggles of the American Pioneer." 



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